than those already described, therefore it is only used for making very thick coarse cord, which is worked up into nets for capturing emus. The process of separating this fibre from the plant is the same as that adopted in the manipulation of the rush, with this one difference, after the mallow stems are taken out of the oven, they are well bruised with mallets, before they are dipped and scraped. The emu nets made from this mallow fibre are frequently 150 yards long, the mesh being 6 inches wide. When completed, an emu net looks exactly similar to our sheep nets and quite as strong. ENMESHING EMUS. The locality of a drove of emus is noted, and such natural features as the country in the vicinity presents, such as the near convergence of a lake and lagoon, or a river and a lagoon, are utilised for side or guiding lines to the net, the latter being fixed at the narrowest point of convergence; as a matter of course, in all cases, the ground between the lines at the point selected for fixing the net must be narrow enough to be spanned thereby. The net is firmly fixed by means of good stout stakes, well driven into the ground. When all is in readiness, several of the elderly aborigines limpen (hide) in the long grass at each end of the net, whilst the younger members of the tribe stretch themselves out in two long lines, having the form of a V, with the apex cut off, the narrow opening of this mutilated V fitting on to the natural converging lines. Previous to these lines being formed, scouts warily taking advantage of all the inequalities offered by bank or rise, stealthily creep round the unsuspecting emus; when their purpose has been achieved, they await quietly in ambush, for the preconcerted signal to startle the game towards the net prepared for their reception. The signal being given, the scouts rise from their concealment, and with shout and gesture so frighten the gigantic birds that they start away with the velocity of a locomotive engine, the thuds from their great feet as they run almost making the very ground to tremble. If it so happens that the birds take off in the desired direction no word is spoken, the scouts merely keep following them up as fast as possible. If, however, the game should swerve from the right line, then those whose side line they are approaching show themselves, and if that should not turn them, then shouting and gesticulating are resorted to, which in most cases have the desired effect; sometimes though the effect is greater than was desired, in this case, the young men forming the other side line show themselves, whilst now the panting scouts coming up behind make as much noise as their labouring lungs will allow them. When the birds have got within the water lines, the whole force in the field, with the exception of those lying in wait at the net, rush madly on, with the din of a pack of demons let loose, which induces the emus to put their best feet first, and so they run blindly into the net, when the old savages waiting to that end rush forward with a joy only known to savages, and club the poor enmeshed birds. It is but seldom that any escape out of the toils to warn their fellow emus of the fate to which they are all liable if due care and unwearied watchfulness be not continually exercised. As many as a dozen emus are frequently taken at one time in this manner, when of course there is nothing but feasting thought of in the camp for many succeeding days, or indeed as long as their supply lasts, or till it becomes putrid, which is not by any means an uncommon result after successful hunting expeditions. OF NETS: Their construction, and methods of application. Weirs how contrived, and of what utility. Duck nets are usually 100 yards long, by 2 yards deep. In making these nets, the aborigines do not use a gauge, as is usual with Europeans-they simply judge of the size by the finger and thumb; the knot however is precisely similar to that made by European net-makers, the meshes are as regular in size as though a gauge had been employed, and the finished net is as uniform throughout its length and quite as strong as those made by men whose sole occupation is that of net-making. Fishing-nets are about the same length usually as those for catching ducks, but they are not so deep, being only 4 feet wide; the mesh is also different, being 3 inches wide, whilst the former is 4 inches. The same sized twine is used for making both nets. Nets for taking crawfish are only 10 feet long, with a width of 2 yards, the mesh being only a quarter of an inch wide. These crawfish nets are made by the women only, it being deemed beneath the dignity of aboriginal manhood to make nets for catching such insignificant game as Yappie (crawfish). The women also net all the bags, waist-belts, brow-bands, &c., no matter whether they are to be worn by the nobler sex or not. The long nets, however, are made entirely by the men, with the exception of the flax preparation, that part of the business being generally performed by the women. When a duck-trapping expedition has been arranged, all in the camp-men, women, and children-get in motion early in the morning and start off to the lagoon which has been selected for the scene of their operations. On their arrival at, or rather near the lagoon, the women make a sort of impromptu camp, where they, together with the children remain, for the twofold purpose of being out of the way, and to make fires at which to cook some of the game they are about to take. Four of the old men then go off with the net to the point on the lagoon where they purpose fixing it. It is here stretched across, and close enough to the water to hinder the ducks from escaping underneath. In the meantime, the young active men of the tribe range themselves at regular intervals along both sides of the lagoon, high up amongst the branches of the trees with which the margin is fringed, each one having a light disk of bark, 6 or 7 inches in diameter, ready to launch at the birds as required. When they are all properly placed, one who has been sent off for that purpose startles the ducks. As is natural with these birds, the moment they are put to flight, they fly off along the course of the lagoon, following its sinuosities very closely. Should it chance, however, as it frequently does at those times, that the birds wish to leave that lagoon for another in the vicinity, one of the aborigines in the trees nearest to the point from which they wish to break whistles like a hawk, and hurls his disc of bark into the air. The ducks, hearing the whistle, look sharply about, and seeing the whirling disc, fancy it a hawk; consequently a simultaneous stoop is made down close to the surface of the water to escape their fancied enemy; then they continue along the course of the lagoon, the whirling disc and the shrill whistle of the native having materially accelerated their flight. When this panic has subsided and they again begin to soar, another whistle, with the accompaniment of a gyrating disc, soon brings them to the desired. level, and thus the sport continues until, after having run this exciting gauntlet, the poor birds find themselves suddenly enveloped in the folds of the treacherous net, when the four guardians thereof, with the assistance of as many hands as can be in at the finish, take but a short space of time to secure the flapping prey, amid an abundance of pleasurable ejaculations and much tongue clucking from the women and children, who gloat over the fat, plump birds as they are drawn from the net. Hundreds and hundreds of ducks are captured in this manner during the months when the waters are confined to the rivers' beds. Of course when all the reedy plains are inundated the ducks have too much scope to be taken so readily; besides, when the waters are out, the ducks are engaged brooding, or in guarding and feeding their young. The fishing-net is made use of in two ways; the first and common method is what civilised fisherman term hauling. It is conducted in the following fashion: A lagoon known to abound in fish, and perhaps not more than waist deep, is chosen as the scene of their operations. When the aborigines have arrived at the chosen spot, those who are about to work the net tie pieces of calcined clay, weighing about a pound and a half each, at intervals of 4 feet, all along the bottom line of the net, these pieces of clay having been brought by the women from the nearest cooking mound for that purpose. On the upper line of the net they fix small bundles of reeds at every 6 feet throughout its length; these reed bundles, as a matter of course, act as floats. Thus prepared the net is ready for work. One man now stands on the edge of the lagoon, holding one end of the net, whilst another holding the opposite end in his hand, and the greater bulk of it in his arms as well, stalks very quietly into the water, describing a considerable semicircle in his progress, paying out the net as he goes along. When the net has been nearly all let out, he comes back to the bank from whence he set out, about thirty paces from his companion, then the work of hauling begins in earnest. During this operation, those holding the ends of the nets gradually converge until within 2 yards of each other. Should the haul be a successful one, all the available muscle in the shape of women and even children too is called into requisition, and much clucking of the tongue ensues, as the bellying of the net becomes more and more perceptible, denoting the finny multitude enclosed within its meshes; the hauling and tugging however, goes on all the time, until at last, with one prodigious and final tug, the glittering denizens of the lagoon are triumphantly landed on the grassy margin in one struggling mass of dazzling glitter. On many occasions I have seen three, and four hundredweight of fish drawn from lagoons at single hauls, consisting of cod, perch, catfish, blackfish, and turtle. It is quite a sight to see them all tumbling and jumping about on the grass, codfish from 50 pounds downwards, and perch, both gold and silver, from 10 pounds down to 2 pounds; the large mesh of the net prevents the landing of small fish, unless on very rare occasions. When it does happen, however, that some few small fish are landed, the aborigines do not take the trouble to throw them into the water again, and as they disdain to be bothered with small fry in the fish season they are left on the bank for the delectation of crows and gulls. As soon as the result of a good haul has been examined, the men pick up their spears &c., and stalk off to the camp in a most majestic manner, leaving the women and children to bring on the heavy wet net and the spoil thereof. In due time the women and children straggle into the camp by twos and threes, groaning and whining under their respective burdens. When a small assemblage, such as two or three families, happen to be encamped in near proximity to a lake, they fix a net in zig-zag lines about 20 yards from the shore, or perhaps a little further out than that should the lake be a shallow one, and from this net daily supplies of fish are drawn, consisting principally of perch and catfish; occasionally a monster codfish is enmeshed, when of course the net suffers considerably, and in most instances with the loss of the fish. An accident of this kind gives rise to much aboriginal language of, to put it in the mildest form, a demonstrative description, as it entails the labour of taking up the net for repairs, which otherwise would in all probability not be moved for a month or more. Nets so staked are visited morning and evening, and on each occasion from eight to a dozen fish are taken, varying in size from a minimum of 2 up to 10 pounds in weight. Where the lower rivers run through the reedy country, the banks thereof are 3 or more feet higher than the plains behind them. These elevations look almost like artificial dykes, so perfect are they in their regularity. At irregular intervals all along these dykes, no one of the intervals being greater than a mile and a half, there are openings or creeks, 7 or 8 feet wide, and as deep as the country behind. Through these openings, when the rivers are in flood, the waters rush out, inundating many hundreds of square miles, and this country remains so submerged from August till January. Whilst the waters thus cover the reedy plains, the various kinds of fish find delectable feeding grounds in the semi-tepid shallows, and the aboriginal fishermen, as a natural consequence, have abundance of sport and profit, too, in pursuing the finny game. Then it is that the canoe and grained paddle are utilised to perfection. When the rivers begin to fall, the waters of the reedy plains find their way back to their parent streams, by the creeks in the dykes, and, naturally, the fish follow the receding waters. The wily aborigines, wise in their generation, when they see that the waters have decidedly begun to fall, prepare a lot of stoutish stakes, with which they form weirs across the dyke creeks. These stakes are driven firmly into the ground, about an inch apart, so that anything having a greater bulk than an inch aperture will allow to pass must perforce remain on the landward sides or the weirs. Without any great stretch of imagination one can easily fancy the shoals of fish which are held captive behind the weirs, and what a very simple matter the taking of them must be. When fish are required, an aboriginal takes his canoe into the midst of one of these shoals, and with his grained canoe pole harpoons as many as he wishes, or until he becomes tired of the fun. The waters continue to run through the dyke creeks for five or six weeks, and during all that time the aborigines slay and feast as only savages can, and are therefore sleek and glossy, by reason of the vast quantity of adipose matter which they devour in these times of abundance. When the waters have all receded from the reedy plains, behind every weir fish of all kinds and sizes are left in thousands to rotand fester in the sun, or to be devoured |