BURIAL AND WITCHCRAFT 
acting as hunters. Their chief game is the pig, the 
cassowary, and the wallaby. They hunt this quarry 
with spears, and drive the game into nets which 
have been spread between the trees and posts in 
the forest over a considerable area, forming a corral, 
approached by a long decoy, two long lines of nets 
gradually converging. When the nets have been set 
the drive commences. ‘The beaters extend themselves 
for a considerable distance, and, with the assistance 
of dogs, gradually force the game towards the nets. 
The game is plentiful, and as it closes towards the 
corral, birds and beasts are forced into the centre in 
crowds. At length the hunters close round the 
opening, a final rush is made, and the victims are 
despatched with spears. These hunting bouts occur 
only at long intervals, and on the lower slopes of the 
mountains. After a successful drive there is a great 
jollification. Fires are built in the camp, the game 
is roasted, and in an incredibly short space of time 
every portion has disappeared, and the people are 
lying around gorged. 
In one particular delicacy favoured by the Papuans 
I was, as an entomologist, very much interested. The 
natives are exceedingly fond of the larve of a large 
tropical beetle, one of the Passaladx, which are found 
in decayed tree trunks. Whenever the natives noticed 
the presence of the borings made by the larve, they 
seized a native instrument, probably one of their stone 
axes, dug out the dainty, which is about five inches 
long, and ate it raw. Should a fire be handy, they 
would sometimes throw the larve into the ashes, give 
it a turn or two, and then enjoy it; the flavour is 
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