98 ABORIGINAL nSHERIES. 



fish must be very great. ^ One of the blacks was asked why 

 they did not shoot the divers and stop them eating the fish, to 

 which he rephed with true aboriginal humour, " Well, you 

 see that only 'nother fellow blackfellow and that must eat, " 

 but at a later visit I saw a diver being roasted at one of the 

 camp fires. 



The " fisheries " must always be a matter of interest to 

 the student of Australian ethnology, enshrouded as its first 

 construction is in mystery, and from the fact that, although 

 the Brewarrina fishery has proved such a lasting and con- 

 tinuous success, it does not 'appear that any similar construc- 

 tion has ever been attempted elsewhere. 



CANOES AND FISHING. 

 Erom ''Notes on the Aborigines of Australia." 



By John P. Mann. 



The management of a bark-canoe is perhaps as remarkable 

 a feat as that of tree-climbing. 



In constructing a canoe a suitable tree is selected, generally 

 a stringy-bark. Two horizontaL rings are cut round the tree 

 through the bark, at a distance apart of 8, 10, or 12 feet, and 

 a perpendicular cut down one side enables the whole sheet to 

 be carefully removed. The rough exterior is pared off, 

 leaving the thin, hard inside shell. It is then placed over a 

 fire ; this enables the ends to be gathered up and folded. 

 Sharp sticks like skewers are passed through these folds, and 

 secured by cords or bands of bark. The opening of the 

 canoe is preserved by stretchers or sticks placed across. 



Whilst stripping the bark from the tree, the black makes 

 use of a ladder, formed by cutting notches in a strong forked 

 sapling, which is leant against the tree. 



These canoes support a very considerable load. With a 

 blackfellow alone they draw but a few inches of water. 

 Being perfectly round at bottom, having no keel, they over- 

 turn with the slightest movement ; yet in these frail canoes 

 I have known blacks to make wonderful journeys. A 

 settler on the Clyde, many years ago, engaged a black and 

 his canoe to remove all his effects from one side of the river 

 to the other. I saw him with a heavy bullock plough in his 



