CHAPTER VII 

 NATIVE HUNTING METHODS 



THE hunting skill of savage races enabling them to 

 obtain food with the help of very primitive weapons- 

 strikes the civilized observer as being" little short of 

 the miraculous. For instance, the details given of 

 the hunting methods of the Australian aboriginals by 

 A. S. Meek in his volume of travel in New Guinea l 

 suggest that these natives are anything but the very 

 low type of savage they are supposed to be. He 

 says : " His hunting is not a mere matter of endurance, 

 speed, or accuracy of aim with his poor weapons; 

 it is intelligent observation brought to a fine art. The 

 black fellow knows the track, cry, and habits of every 

 animal, and takes advantage of its peculiarity or 

 characteristic to secure its downfall. This knowledge 

 of animals is linked to inexhaustible patience and per- 

 severance. He will track the 'possum by its claw- 

 marks on a tree-trunk, or by observing the flight of 

 mosquitoes if no clawmarks are visible. He will 

 decoy pelicans within his reach by imitating the dis- 

 turbance of water from the jumping fish by throwing 

 mussel-shells into a pond or splashing it with his 

 fingers. He will creep or swim up to ducks with 



1 See Bibliography, 17. 

 122 



