264 
MODES OF 
thickness ; it is about an inch and a half in diameter, 
and has two short pointed pieces of hard wood 
lashed to one end, projecting about five or six inches, 
and set a little apart, so as to form a kind of prongs 
or grains. This instrument is also used for propelling 
the canoe. 
It is used too for spearing fish by night, which 
is by far the most interesting method of any. 
Having previously prepared his canoe, straightened 
his spear, and hardened and sharpened the points of 
the prongs, the native breaks up his fire- wood in 
small pieces, and loads his canoe with a stock calcu- 
lated to last the time he intends to be absent. An 
oval piece of bark, about three feet long and two 
broad, is then coated over with wet mud and placed 
in the stern of the canoe, on a framework of sticks. 
One or two sticks are stuck upright in the mud, and 
others placed around them in the form of a cone. 
Afire is then put underneath, and the native, stepping 
into the bow of his canoe, pushes steadily into the 
stream, and commences his nocturnal employment. 
The wood of which the fire is made is of a particular 
kind, and, as only one description of tree will answer, 
it has frequently to be brought from a considerable 
distance. It is obtained among the brush of the 
table-land stretching behind the valley of the 
Murray, on either side, and its peculiarities are that 
it is light, brittle, and resinous, emitting when burn- 
ing a most agreeable fragrance and a powerful and 
brilliant light, almost wholly free from smoke. 
