ANNALS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM, No. 5. 
5 
obtained." Unfortunately, the specimen intended for the British 
New Guinea collection has failed to reach its destination, but it is 
evident, from tiie material we have, that the web becomes densely 
felted together, and thus fitted for the purpose to which it is put. On 
examination, it is found that a lock of the felted web, about 120 mm. 
in length and 10 mm. in thickness, is taken, tied in the middle of its 
length to the eud of the tail-line, its ends brought into contact, and, 
at some distance from their tips, joined together with twine ; a part 
of the twine is enclosed as a core, round which the rest is wound to 
form a pendant, hanging either within or below the extremities of the 
web tassel [Plate 1, tig. a]. The tassel so carefully and uniformly 
made seems to be at once the bait to allure, and the snare to hold the 
prey of which the fisherman is in quest. The kite is raised just suffi- 
ciently to allow the tassel to reach the surface of the water, see PI. II. ; 
the fish, attracted by the glint of the web, fixes its teeth in the felt, 
from which it is unable to dislodge them, is played (as we may suppose) 
by means of the kite, and (as we hear) is finally lifted into the canoe in 
a small triangular landing-net, mounted on a forked stick. What kind 
of fish are the victims of this device, and what weight of fish can be 
secured without injury to gear apparently so fragile, we are not 
informed. This clever mode of fishing is also carried on from the 
shore. 
