Brissenden, R. F.

Australian Archaeology

Flinders Academic Commons

Australian Archaeology    Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au  Full Citation Details: Brissenden, R.F. 1978. Sea Beach and Cave , Durras. 'Australian Archaeology', no.8, 16.  SEA B E A C H  AND C A V E ,  DURRAS Sun&y 22nd A p r i l  1770. . . saw the smook o f  f i re  i n  several places.. . (We} were so near the Shore as t o  dist inguish several peopZe upon the Sea beach. They appear'd t o  be of a very dark or black coZour but whether t h i s  was the  real coZour of  the i r  skins or the  C(l lo thes  they might have on I knm not. . . - Captain James Cook, J o u r n a l  o f  The Voyage o f  t h e  Endeavour A cave is a beginning - and t h e  s e a .  I t  is  t h e  cave t h a t  g i v e s  t h i s  sands tone  c l i f f ,  T h i s  beach, t h e i r  meaning; though t o n i g h t  t h e  f i r e  Burns on t h e  sand o u t s i d e .  Th i s  morning i n  t h e  cave,  crouching,  they  touched And turned t o  where i t s  blackened mouth-edge framed The sky,  t h e  f l a s h i n g  s e a  and t h e  whi te  s u r f  Tumbling upon t h e  sand. Then, a s  they  rode those  long  waves i n ,  t h e i r  boards  Pointed towards t h e  cave - i t  w a s  a mark As n a t u r a l  a s  t h e  channel and t h e  r e e f  That runs  o u t  from the shore .  A good p lace  f o r  a camp: s t r i p p e d  t o  h e r  s h o r t s  The g i r l  s l e p t  face-down i n  t h e  sun,  t h e n  woke To watch t h e  boy, b lack  i n  h i s  w e t - s u i t ,  t a k e  The f our-pronged spea r  and d i v e .  A t  s u n s e t ,  i n  t h e  deep shade of t h e  c l i f f ,  They cooked t h e  f i s h  t h e  boy had k i l l e d .  And now, Caught i n  ano the r  wave, they t u r n  and t a k e  Each o t h e r  on the sand.  The fish-bones smoulder i n  t h e  c o o l i n g  f i r e .  The s p e a r  s h i n e s  i n  t h e  moonlight. I n  t h e  cave Behind t h e  s l e e p i n g  l o v e r s  t h e  e a r t h  f l o o r  Minutely s h i f t s  and s e t t l e s ,  D r i f t s  over  t h e  o t h e r  bones, t h e  o t h e r  s p e a r s  - The fish-hooks carved from s h e l l ,  t h e  f l a k e s  o f  s t o n e ,  The bones of  b i r d  and animal and f i s h ,  The blood, t h e  long-dead f i r e s .  R. F. Brissenden (Repr inted by k i n d  permission of ANU P r e s s )  1 6  Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au

Sea Beach and Cave, Durras

http://dspace.flinders.edu.au/xmlui/bitstream/handle/2328/759/1978008016016_FINAL.pdf?sequence=1

Sea Beach and Cave, Durras

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