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there, he pulls the ropes and the roof falls over them. This con- 
trivance is sometimes placed over a small stream where animals 
come to drink. 
Nets are also used for trapping birds. 
Fishing . — Although the For women do not take part in the 
hunting, they join in fishing; in fact, the whole population in the 
western part of Darfur fish, and consider it fine sport. They fish 
with the rod and line, with baited hook ; they spear the fish, and 
they catch them in wickerwork traps. Fish are also netted, but 
this method is rarely employed except by the blacksmiths, who 
always fish by themselves. Small pieces of the bark of a bitter tree 
are sometimes thrown into the water ; the fish eat them and are 
poisoned. Dams are also constructed in the river, from which the 
water is subsequently drained and the fish caught by hand. When 
caught, the fish are cut open, and then smoked on a stand over a 
fire or dried in the sun. The harpoons are made with movable 
heads, to which a line is attached ; they are usually barbed. As 
soon as the fish is struck the head becomes loose and the fish is 
played by the line attached to the head ; this same remark applies 
to the hand spears. Bows and arrows are used by the boys for 
shooting fish ; the arrow has a line attached to it, but the heads are 
not loose. Fish are not preserved alive. 
Trade . — Men devote themselves entirely to no trade save war, 
with the exception of the blacksmiths, and in war alone are the 
services of the women dispensed with. All other employments are 
followed by men and women alike. 
The following articles are manufactured: — Damoor cloth, shirts 
of damoor, caps of damoor, leathern sandals, water skins, leather 
bags for carrying grain, earthenware, string, mats, basket work, rough 
spinning wheels and looms, shields, spears, bows and arrows, 
bracelets and rings, and iron implements used in cultivation. A 
few of the Fors are very expert in the manufacture of filigree work, 
and in ivory turning. 
Damoor cloth, wheat, and dhurra are employed as the principal 
articles of barter, but almost everything is used for exchange as 
occasion serves. All the Fors are very industrious, in fact they are 
the most industrious tribe I have ever visited. It is quite a pleasure 
on entering one of their villages to see the whole population, men 
