124 PHILLIP 1790 This destroyed our friendship in a moment, and seizing a spesr he came close up to me, poised it, and appeared determined to Poising a Strike ; but whether from seeing that his threats were not regarded,
- '*"' for I chose rather U) risk the spear than fire on him, or from any-
thing the other natives said who surrounded him, after a few moments he dropped his spear and left us. Phillip modestly adds that lie mentioned the circumstance to show that the natives did not want personal courage, for several officers and men were then near him. But it also showed that he himself had something more than personal Phinip's courage ; the coolness and self -possession he displayed when his life was threatened were remarkable. Most naen in his place would have fired at the savage the moment they saw him poise the spear, and the act would have been considered justifiable; for even if the spear was not poised with the intention of throwing it, Phillip could not have known that ; and it was not thrown simply because the man was disarmed by his heroism. On a subsequent occasion he was not so Speared at fortunate, being seriously wounded by a spear thrown at ° ^ ^*' him by a native who had been introduced to him by Ben- nilong at Manly Cove. Such an event was sufficient to show the necessity for caution as well as courage in dealing with savages, whose action is habitually guided by the impulse of the moment.* His narrow escape from death on that occasion did not deter him from acting in his usual manner towards the natives. He knew that the man who threw the spear was Self- not actuated by treachery, but was acting in self-defence, being under the impression, when Phillip advanced towards him with open hands, that he was about to be seized and carried off in the same way that other natives had been cap- tured by the Governor's orders. Nothing indeed that had occurred during his intercourse with the tribes had led him to regard the natives as treacherous. t An: unfavourable
- Collins, p. 134 ; Tench, Complete Account, p. 59. Poising a spear at a
stranger was a common practice with the natives. It waa an invitation to stand his ground. t Hunter, p. 463-4. Digitized by Google
