120 PYGMIES AND PAPUANS 



trees to make the canoes, without which the people 

 must inevitably starve. 



Their working day begins fairly early, and by about 

 eight o'clock the village is almost deserted by the 

 women, who have all gone off in canoes to fish or collect 

 sago. As a rule, two or three w^omen go in each canoe, 

 taking wdth them a few children, a dog or two, several 

 fishing nets, rolls of matting, some spears and arrows, 

 a little food, a bamboo filled with fresh water, if they 

 are going down to the river mouth, and always a fire 

 burning in the stern of the boat. The usual destina- 

 tion of the women is the muddy creeks among the 

 mangrove swamps not far from the sea ; there where 

 the water is brackish and the tide rises and falls several 

 feet they find in the mud banks large mussels 

 -^ (Cyrena sp.), which contain a good deal of food, and 

 the shells of which are useful as knives and scrapers. 

 Hopping all over the mud are seen hundreds of curious 

 ;^ little fish (Periophthalmus sp.), whose eyes seem to be 

 starting out of their heads ; these little creatures climb 

 up the steepest mud banks, and even up the stumps of 

 trees. 



The commonest type of fishing net is made in an oval 

 framework of wood, or strips of rattan, about 5 feet long 

 by 2 feet wide ; the net is a close mesh of native string 

 stretched tightly across the frame, except at the middle, 

 where it sags a little. The usual method of using this 

 kind of net is to grasp it at both ends and by wading 

 through the shallow water to scoop up small fish much 

 in the same way as shrimps are caught. There is 

 another more ingenious method of using it, which 



