NATIVE HUNTING METHODS 127 



paddle, otherwise both will swim along until the ca,tch 

 can be landed. Arrived at home, they throw down 

 their heavy load and retire to their hammocks until 

 the women bring the savoury meat and bread for 

 dinner." 



A delightful description of the hunting methods 

 of the natives of Dunk Island,, off the coast of 

 Queensland, is given by Mr. E. J. Banfield in his 

 reminiscences of his life as an unprofessional beach- 

 comber. 1 He says : " The blacks harpoon dugong 

 as they do turtle, but the sport demands greater patience 

 and dexterity, for the dugong is a wary animal and 

 shy, to be approached only with the exercise of artful 

 caution. An inadvertent splash of the paddle or miss 

 with the harpoon, and the game is away with a torpedo - 

 like swirl. To be successful in the sport the black 

 must be familiar with the life -history of the creature 

 to a certain extent understanding its peregrinations 

 and the reason for them the strength and trend of 

 currents, and the locality of favourite feeding grounds. 

 Fragments of floating grass sometimes tell where the 

 animal is feeding. An oily appearance on the surface 

 of the sea shows its course, and if the wind sits in 

 the right quarter the keen -scented black detects its 

 presence when the animal has risen to breathe at a 

 point invisible to him. He must know also of the 

 affection of the female for her calf, and be prepared 1 

 to play upon it implacably. In some localities the 

 blacks were wont to manufacture nets for the capture 

 of dugong, and nets are still employed by them under 

 the direction of white men ; for the flesh of the dugong 

 is worthily esteemed, and oil from the blubber sweet, 

 1 See Bibliography, 10. 



