COLLECTING THE MOTHS. 271 



collect on the surfaces and also in the crevices of 

 the masses of granite in incredible quantities : to 

 procure them with greater facility, the natives 

 make smothered fires underneath those rocks 

 about which they are collected, and sufibcate 

 them with smoke, at the same time sweeping 

 them off frequently in bushels-full at a time. 

 After they have collected a large quantity, they 

 proceed to prepare them, which is done in the 

 following manner. 



A circular space is cleared upon the ground, 

 of a size proportioned to the number of insects to 

 be prepared ; on it a fire is lighted and kept 

 burning until the ground is considered to be suf- 

 ficiently heated, when, the fire being removed, 

 and the ashes cleared away, the moths are placed 

 upon the heated ground, and stirred about until 

 the down and wings are removed from them ; 

 they are then placed on pieces of bark, and 

 winnowed to separate the dust and wings mixed 

 with the bodies : they are then eaten, or 

 placed into a wooden vessel called a " Wal- 

 bun, or Culibun,"* and pounded by a piece 

 of wood into masses or cakes resembling lumps 

 of fat, and may be compared in colour and 



* The " Walbun," or " Culibun," is usually made from 

 one of the knotty protuberances so commonly seen upon the 

 trunks of the large Eucalypti trees. 



