36 A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL LAND 



and mend weapons and implements ; kangaroo 

 sinews to make spears and to sew with ; needles made 

 of the shin bones of kangaroos, with which they sew 

 cloaks, bags, etc. ; opossum hair to be spun into 

 waist-belts; shavings of kangaroo skins to polish 

 spears, etc. ; the shell of a species of mussel to cut 

 hair, etc. with; native knives; a native hatchet; 

 pipe clay; red ochre, or burnt clay; yellow ochre; a 

 piece of paper bark to carry water in ; waist-bands and 

 spare ornaments; banksia cones (small ones), or 

 pieces of a dry white species of fungus, to kindle 

 fire with rapidly, and to convey it from place to 

 place; grease; the spare weapons of their husbands, 

 or the pieces of wood from which these are to be 

 manufactured; the roots, etc. which they have col- 

 lected during the day. Skins not yet prepared for 

 cloaks are generally carried between the bag and the 

 back, so as to form a sort of cushion for the bag to 

 rest on. In general each woman carries a lighted 

 fire-stick, or brand, under her cloak and in her 

 hand." 



At this camp I managed to secure two clutches of 

 the eggs of the rifle bird. A curious thing about the 

 nest of the rifle bird is that the hen always seems to 

 get a snake skin- the sloughed skin of a snake to 

 entwine in the fabric of her nest. I have encountered 

 many nests of the rifle bird, and have always found 

 a snake skin to be part of its fabric. The nests were 

 usually built in the heads of the umbrella palms and 



