ANIMALS. 95 



Hexham, and consequently has the exclusive right to the fish. No other tribe 

 can catch them without permission, which is generally granted, except to 

 unfriendly tribes from a distance, whose attempts to take the eels by force have 

 often led to quarrels and bloodshed. Spearing eels in marshes and muddy ponds 

 is a favourite amusement. Armed with two eel-spears, the fisher wades about, 

 sometimes in water up to his waist, probing the weeds and mud, at the same time 

 gently feeling with his toes. On discovering an eel under his feet, he transfixes 

 it with one spear pushed between his toes, and then with another, and by 

 twisting both together he prevents its escape, and raises it to the surface. He 

 then crushes its head with his teeth, and strings it on a kangaroo sinew tied to 

 his waist. In instances where old men have very few or bad teeth, it is amusing 

 to see them worrying the heads, while the tails of the eels are wriggling and 

 twisting round their necks. If the marsh is shallow, the eel can be seen 

 swimming in the water. It is followed to its hole in the ground. The fisher 

 probes the spot with an eel-spear, and, feeling that he has transfixed the eel, he 

 treads in with his heel a round portion of the mud and weeds, lifts the sod to the 

 surface of the water, and removes the eel. Sometimes two spears are needed 

 to secure the fish. In summer, when the swamps are quite dry on the surface, 

 but moist underneath, eels are discovered by their air-holes, and are dug up. 



For night fishing in deep waterholes, a stage is formed of limbs of trees, 

 grass, and earth, projecting three or four feet from the bank, and close to the 

 surface of the water. A fire is lighted on the bank, or a torch of dry bark 

 held aloft, both to attract the fish and give light. The fisher, lying on his face, 

 spies the fish through a hole in the middle of the stage, and either spears or 

 catches them with his hand. In shallow lakes and lagoons fish are caught during 

 very dark nights with torch and spear. The torch is made of dried ti-tree twigs, 

 tied in a bundle. The fishers wade through the water in line, each with a light 

 in one hand and a spear in the other. Fish of various kinds are attracted by the 

 light, and are speared in great numbers. 



Crayfish and crabs are caught by wading into the sea, and allowing them to 

 lay hold of the big toe, which is moved about as a bait. The fisher then reaches 

 down and seizes the animal by the back, pulls ofi" its claws, and puts it into a 

 basket, which is slung across his shoulders. Freshwater mussels are found in 

 the rivers. When the water beetle is seen swimming on the surface of the water 

 in great numbers, it is a sign that there are ' plenty of mussels there.' Hence 

 the water beetle is called the 'mother of mussels.' Tortoises abound in the 



