494 MR. w. POWELL ON THE MORROop. [June 15, 



they are also very fond of fish. Whilst in conversation with a native 

 one day, he told me that the Pook-Pook (or Crocodile) was very fond 

 of Cassowary's flesh and often eats them. It puzzled me very much 

 to understand how it was that the alligator, who is so unwieldy in 

 his movements on shore, could possibly catch a bird of such swiftness. 

 It chanced that afterwards I witnessed an interesting occurrence 

 that may very possibly account for it. I was one day some little 

 distance up a river in New Britain, sitting in my little dingey fishing 

 (the boat and myself being partially hidden by bushes) ; I saw a 

 Morroop (Cassowary) come down to the water' sedge and stand for some 

 minutes apparently watching the water carefully ; it then stepped 

 into the river where the water was about three feet deep, and par- 

 tially squatting down, spread its wings out, submerging them, the 

 feathers being spread and ruffled. The bird remained perfectly 

 motionless ; I also noticed that the eyes were closed as if asleep. 

 It remained in this position for fully a quarter of an hour, when 

 suddenly closing its wings and straightening its feathers, it stepped 

 out onto the bank, where, shaking itself several times, a number of 

 small fishes fell from under the wings and from amidst the feathers, 

 which were immediately picked up and swallowed. The fishes had 

 evidently mistaken the feathers for a description of weed that grows 

 in the water along the banks of the rivers in this island, and very 

 much resembles the feathers of the Cassowary, and in which the 

 smaller fish hide to avoid the larger ones that prey on them. I 

 think it would have been very easy for an alligator to seize the bird 

 whilst thus in the water. These birds generally go into the thickest 

 scrubs to sleep ; and although I have never myself seen them, I hear 

 from the natives that the hen birds sleep with their heads under their 

 wings, lying down, and that the male bird lies with his head stretched 

 out along the ground, probably to guard against surprise. 



The method the natives adopt to catch them is to light fires in a 

 large circle of about a mile in circumference in the long grass on 

 the plains, leaving one opening in the circle, at which is stationed 

 several men armed with spears. The fire is made to burn towards 

 the centre of the circle by men and women on the outside, who beat 

 out with bushes all fire likely to spread in any other direction ; 

 this drives the Cassowary that are within the circle to the opening, 

 where they are speared by the men stationed there for that purpose. 

 Another method is to place a rope (made of the bark of a tree), with 

 a running-noose at one end and a loop at the other, round the nest, 

 covering it with sand so as to hide it. The native takes the other 

 end (which has been wound round his body) behind a tree, and 

 waits for the bird to come. When she is seated on the nest, in the 

 act of laying an egg, he pulls the rope and the noose catches the legs 

 of the Cassowary ; he then runs with the other end to a tree, and 

 takes a round turn, which holds the bird in its struggle to escape 

 until it is quite tired out and helpless : he then dispatches it with 

 his spear. One man, when I was in the Goonuw district (New 

 Britain), met with liis death in the following peculiar manner whilst 

 waiting for a Cassowary to come to its nest. Having his rope 



