27 



a stone, and several fibres are pulled apart with tlie fingers.. 

 Then two strands are rolled on the thigh till each is twisted' 

 tightly, when, by letting the strands meet, they twist one 

 about the other, and so a two-ply string is made, fresh fibres 

 being continually added to each strand. 



In making hair, or fur, string the spindle (fig. 10) is used. 

 This consists of a slender stick of about 1 foot in length, 

 passed transversely through a flat, oval-shaped piece of wood 

 about 4 inches in length. The hair or fur is beaten till it 

 becomes a well-tangled mass, and then with the fingers a length 

 of a few inches is twisted out of the mass.. The end of the freed 

 length is fastened to the spindle, leaving the other end con- 

 nected with the mass of tangled fur. Now the spindle is rotated 

 between one hand and thigh and the twisting of the string, so 

 caused, automatically twists out a further length of string from 

 the mass of fur. The run of fur from the mass to the twisting- 

 string is regulated by the fingers of the free hand, and as 

 the length grows the one-ply string thus made is wound about 

 the crosspiece of the spindle. 



Dress. 



There are distinctive forms of dress for man, woman, and 

 child. An adult of either sex wears a belt either of kangaroo 

 fur or a very thick belt ("wudbin") (fig. 11) composed of a 

 core of bark, bound round with hair string, the belt being 

 H inches in diameter. It is worn not round the waist 

 but about the hips (pi. iv., fig. b ). The woman's dress consists 

 of a pubic tassel of kangaroo fur, the tassel being about 

 5 inches in length. Only the fur of the female kangaroo is 

 used in string-making, as it is softer and better adapted to 

 spinning than the fur of the male. 



The man frequently wears no addition to the belt, but if 

 such is worn it consists of an oval piece of pearl shell attached 

 to the belt, either in front or behind. This shell, known 

 as "chogula" (fig. 12"), is frequently plain, but may be 

 ornamented with a few rough scratchings, representing the 

 body scars, or, may be, outlines of fish. 



The child's dress is a thin belt of kangaroo fur with a 

 little, bunched, pubic tassel of wallaby fur (fig. 13). 



Necklaces of two kinds occur. A rather closely-fitting 

 band, consisting of several parallel strands of fibre string, 

 coated with ochre, and fastened at the back of the neck, is 

 worn by women only. 



The "wongara," or necklet of human hair string, with 

 an oval pendant of pearl shell, is worn by either sex, the shell 

 pendant dangling down the back. A rather uncommon form 



