As far as we know, the only trace of civilisation in the Bosjesman is his manufacture of weapons, and even his bow and arrows are of the rudest and clumsiest forms. Nor is it likely that he will ever advance any further; for, as is the wont of all savage tribes, he is disappearing fast before the presence of superior races, and will shortly be as extinct as the Tasmanians, the last of whom died only a few years ago. EARTHENWARE. The advent of real civilisation seems to depend largely upon the construction, not of weapons, but utensils, and the most useful of these are intended either for the preparation or the preservation of food. That such vessels should be made of earth is evident enough, and it is worthy of remark that the rude earthenware pot of the naked savage and the delicate china of Sèvres should both be products of the earth, and yet be examples of the opposite ends of civilisation. The most primitive earthenware vessels were simply baked in the rays of the sun, the use of fire for hardening them being of later date. Rude and simple as they are, some of these vessels possess tolerable strength, and can answer every purpose for which they are intended. I possess several pots made by the aborigines of the Essequibo district. They are very thick and heavy in proportion to their dimensions, and are still so fragile that I have been obliged to bind them with string whenever they are moved. Simple as they are, however, they are pleasing to the eye, chiefly, I presume, because they are made for a definite office, and fulfil it, and have no pretence about them. Then, as they are moulded by hand alone, without any assistance from machinery of any kind, even a wheel, the individuality of the maker is stamped upon them, and no two are exactly alike either in form, colour, or ornament. A couple of these rude vases are to be seen on the right hand of the accompanying illustration. * * * * * ON the left hand of the same illustration are shown two examples of earthenware vessels made by birds, which are nearly, if not quite, as good as those made by the hands of civilised man. The upper figure represents the nest of the Pied Grallina (_Grallina Australis_), a bird which, as its specific name implies, is a native of Australia. [Illustration: NEST OF PIED GRALLINA. NEST OF OVEN-BIRD. PRIMITIVE EARTHENWARE.] This nest is formed chiefly of clay, but a quantity of dried grass is always mixed with it, and serves to bind it together. If one of these nests be broken up, and compared with the bricks of which ancient Babylon was built, it will be found that they are almost identical in material, and that both are merely baked in the sun. In form it so closely resembles an Essequibo jar in my possession, that if it were removed from the branch, and similarly coloured, it would not be easy to distinguish the one from the other. * * * * *