Page:The Aborigines of Victoria and Riverina.djvu/81

76 CHAPTER IX.

OF DUCK NETS, THEIR CONSTRUCTION AND METHOD OF APPLICATION; FISHING NETS, WITH THEIR USES ILLUSTRATED; WEIRS FOR TRAPPING FISH; HOW CONSTRUCTED, AND OF WHAT UTILITY.

Duck nets are usually one hundred yards long by two yards broad, the mesh being four inches wide. In making these nets the aborigines do not use a gauge, as is usual with Europeans. They simply judge of the size by the finger and thumb. The knot, however, is precisely similar to the one which European net-makers use. The meshes are as regular in size as though a gauge had been employed, and the finished net is as uniform throughout its length, and quite as strong as those made by men whose sole occupation is that of net-making.

Fishing nets are about the same length usually as those for catching ducks, but they are not so wide, being only four feet in width. The mesh, too, is different, being only three inches wide. The same kind of twine is used for making both nets. Nets for taking crawfish are only ten feet long, with a width of six feet, the mesh being three quarters of an inch wide. These nets are made by the women always, it being deemed beneath the dignity of aboriginal manhood to make nets to catch such insignificant game as crawfish. The women also make all the bags, waist belts, and brow bands, no matter whether they are to be worn by the nobler animal or not. The long nets, however, are made entirely by the men—that is to say, in every particular, with the exception of preparing the flax, that