CH. VII.] NETS USED BY THEM. 305 



experience to do so ; and he has also at his command, by 

 this combination, the strength and agility of the other two. 

 The natives of the Darling live chiefly on the fish of the 

 river, and are expert swimmers and divers. They can swim 

 and turn with great velocity under water, and they can both 

 see and spear the largest fish, sometimes remaining beneath 

 the surface a considerable time for this purpose. In very cold 

 weather, however, they float on pieces of bark ; and thus 

 also they can spear the fish, having a small fire beside them 

 in such a bark canoe. They also feed on birds, and espe- 

 cially on ducks, which they ensnare with nets, in the posses- 

 sion of every tribe. These nets are very well worked, much 

 resembling our own in structure, and they are made of the 

 wild flax, which grows in tufts near the river. These are 

 easily gathered by the gins, who manage the whole process 

 of net-making. They give each tuft (soon after gathering it) 

 a twist, also biting it a little, and in that state it is laid about 

 on the roof of their huts until dry. Fishing nets are made 

 of various similar materials, being often very large ; and 

 attached to some of them, I have seen half-inch cordage, 

 which might have been mistaken for the production of a 

 rope-walk. But the largest of their nets are those set across 

 the Darling for the purpose of catching the ducks which fly 

 along the river in considerable flocks. These nets are strong, 

 with wide meshes ; and when occasion requires, they are 

 stretched across the river from a lofty pole erected for the 

 purpose on one side, to some large opposite tree on the other. 

 Such poles are permanently fixed, supported by substantial 

 props, and it was doubtless one of them, that Captain Sturt 

 supposed to have been erected, to propitiate some deity. 



The native knows well " the alleys green" through which 

 at twilight, the thirsty pigeons and parrots rush towards the 

 water; and there, with a smaller net hung up, he sits down, 

 and makes a fire ready to roast the birds, which may fall 

 into his snare. 



These savages have a power of manipulating with their 

 1 X 



