27 



or hollow containing the honeycomb, and worked about in it 

 until an appreciable amount of honey has been absorbed by 

 the fibres, when it is withdrawn and the honey eaten, after 

 wliich the process may be repeated. 



Wilson observed^' a native of Raffles Bay squeeze into a 

 basin of water honey out of a meshy, fibrous bundle, formed 

 from the inner bark of young trees, then dip the bundle into 

 the water and suck it. No doubt this bundle of fibres w^as a 

 modification of- the form I have just described, and is known 

 as (/ahnarrua to the Larrekiyas. It v/as observed on the Vic- 

 toria River. 



When about to burn down tracts of dry grass and reeds 

 to obtain snakes, lizards, and other small game, the men cut 

 a stick from a tree, with a branch at one end cut short so as 

 to form a hook. Into this hook they wedge a little straw 

 and set fire to it ; then, holding the burning end to the dry 

 grass, they run along, pulling the stick after them, the hook 

 being held so that it continually gathers fresh fuel as he 

 proceeds. 



Cooking of Game. 



The legs of an animal to be cooked are broken and tied 

 together in pairs with hybiscus fibre. The carcass is opened 

 at the side to remove the entrails, and an incision made in 

 the anus to clear it. In the case of a kangaroo, the tail is cut 

 off and cooked sejoarately in ashes. When thus prepared, the 

 carcass, the skin of which is not removed, is placed in an oven 

 constructed as folloAvs : — A fire is burnt over a shallow excava- 

 tion in sand, and upon the red-hot coals are placed lumps of 

 ant-hill earth to be heated. On them the animal is laid, 

 covered first with paper-bark, then with sand, when it is 

 allowed to cook.f 



Fire-Making. 



When by accident, such as a sudden tropical deluge, the 

 "fire-stick" becomes extinguished, a fresh flame is kindled by 

 the ordinary frictional process of twirling a rod of dry wood 

 between the palms, with its lower, slightly-pointed end against 

 another piece of wood held to the ground with the feet, the 

 operator being in a seated position. See fig. 20. A little 



* Narrative of a Yovage Round the World. 1835. p 99. See 

 also, Keppel : A Visit to the Indian Archipelago, 1853, vol. ii., 

 p. 1G8. 



t A .similar method is reported to have been used by the 

 extinct Adelaide tribe. J. P. Gell : Tasmanian Joiirn. National 

 Science, etc., 1841; reprinted in pamphlet form. 



