252 
CATCHING CRAY-FISH. 
the back waters of the Murray, I have seen six 
hundred natives encamped together, all of whom were 
living at the time upon fish procured from the lake, 
with the addition, perhaps, of the leaves of the 
mesembryanthemum. When I went amongst them 
I never perceived any scarcity in their camps. The 
fish were caught in nets. 
At Moorunde, when the Murray annually inun- 
dates the flats, fresh- water cray-fish make their way 
to the surface of the ground from holes where they 
have been buried during the year, in such vast 
numbers that I have seen four hundred natives live 
upon them for weeks together, whilst the numbers 
spoiled or thrown away would have sustained four 
hundred more. This fish is an excellent and nu- 
tritious article of food, and would be highly prized 
by the epicure. It is caught by the women who 
wade into the water in a long close line, stooping 
down and walking backwards, whilst they grope 
with their hands and feet, presenting a singular, 
and to the uninitiated, an incomprehensible spec- 
tacle, as they thus move slowly backwards, but 
keep the line regular and well preserved, as all 
generally occupy the same position at one time. 
When a cray-fish is caught the large claws are torn 
off* to prevent the animal from biting, and both 
claws and body are put into a small net suspended 
from the neck for that purpose. In two or three 
hours a woman will procure as many fish as will 
last her family for a day. The men are too lazy 
