342 CONFESSIONS OF A BEACHCOMBER 



the sucker is so deeply cut by the line that it is in danger 

 of being completely severed, a hole is callously bored 

 right through the body beside the backbone, and the line 

 passed through it for additional security. 



Turtle being wanted, the blacks voyage out each in a bark 

 canoe, which weighs about 40 lbs., is 8 feet long, 2 feet 

 beam and i foot deep midships, where the sides are much 

 depressed, leaving little more than an inch of freeboard. 

 There is a good sheer forward and a slight tilt at the stern, 

 while the bottom is level. Occasionally two men fit them- 

 selves into a canoe of the dimensions given. The canoe is 

 constructed of a singly, sheet of bark, preferably of "Gulgong" 

 {Eucalyptus robustd) or "Carr-lee" {Acacia aulacocarfa), 

 or "Wee-ree" {Calophyllum inophyllum) brought neatly 

 together at the ends, which are sewn with strips of lawyer 

 cane. Pieces of lawyer cane are sometimes also stitched 

 in to represent stem and stern posts, and the chaffing 

 pieces also are of cane, though occasionally thin pliant 

 saplings are strapped and sewn on. Across the bow and 

 the stem are stays of cane, with generally a stronger 

 thwart midships. When new, and the stitches of yellow 

 cane regular and bright, the canoe represents about the 

 neatest and nattiest of the few constructive efforts of the 

 blacks, and is as buoyant as a duck. The seams are 

 caulked with a resinous gum, " Tambarang," of the jungle- 

 tree known as"Arral" {Evodia accedens), and is prepared by 

 being powdered on a flat stone previously moistened with 

 water. The powdered resin is melted by heat, allowed to 

 solidify, and pounded and melted again, and after being 

 rolled and kneaded into a lump, is wrapped in a leaf until 

 wanted. The finished article, which is also used as a 

 cement, is known as " Toon-coo." 



Motor power for the canoe is a shovel-shaped piece 

 of bark $ inches by 3 J inches, each man having a pair. 

 Ever and anon the aft man ejects leakage by a rapid 

 succession of dexterous back strokes of his paddle. 



Naked and unashamed, the blacks are well equipped 

 for sport. They may have three or four harpoons of their 



