ABORIGINAL FISHERIES AT BREWARRINA. 149 
I will now endeavour to describe the fish-traps and their 
-construction. The river-floor at this point consists of | 
immense numbers of loose stones, ranging from twenty 
pounds to a hundred weight, with others of greater dimen- 
sions. The aboriginal builders collected large quantities 
of these stones and erected walls, in the way many of our 
farmers about Kiama used to build stone dykes or fences 
around their farms. These walls were erected in a sub- 
stantial manner, being wider at the base, where also the 
larger stones were used, and tapering upward to the top. 
The stones were merely laid in position, without mortar or 
dressing of any kind, forming a structure sufficiently strong 
to resist the force of the current. The large stones used 
in the foundation or base of the wall were rolled into 
position, whilstthe smaller ones were carried bythe builders. 
Areas were enclosed in this manner, varying in dimensions 
from that of a small pond almost down to the size of a, 
plunge bath, the walls of one enclosure being common to 
those around it, forming a labyrinth of inextricable wind- 
ings. These enclosures were continued right across the 
channel from bank to bank, and occupied all the suitable 
portions of the river floor for about a quarter of a mile 
along its course. Some of the pens or traps were long and 
narrow, others nearly circular, whilst others were irregular 
in shape, according to the formation of the bed of the river, 
and the facilities for obtaining the heavy building material 
close at hand. 
The level of the water was observed while the river was 
running, and owing to the unavoidable irregularities of the 
bed, the walls of some of the pens were built higher than 
others. Again, when the water was low, or during a small 
freshet, only a portion of the channel and the pens contained 
init, could be utilized for fishing operations, whilst certain 
pens on higher ground could not be used at all, owing to 
