Page:The Native Tribes of South Australia (1879).djvu/297

 FOOD. 219 a kangaroo, indicates that animal; three fingers extended, the middle one dropping a little below the other two, denotes an emu; four fingers shut, and the thumb only extended, means an opossum; the whole hand extended and held horizontally on edge shows that fish are seen. They have as many similar signs as there are kinds of game, employing a different one for each. Opossums and native cats are hunted in moonlight nights when the heavens are lightly clouded, for in perfectly clear nights the natives maintain the animals see them at a distance, and run to their holes in the rocks before they come up. In hunting opossums, the tamed native dogs are of great service, as they not only catch the animals when dropping from the trees, but also scent and take the natives to the game. If a kangaroo-rat is found in a hole or under a rock, and they can neither reach it with their hands nor with sticks, a fire is made at the mouth of the opening, until the animal is driven out or overpowered by the smoke. The natives of Port Lincoln are not so expert in procuring fish as those of other parts of the colony, for they neither use nets nor hooks. The larger kinds are speared, while the smaller sorts, particularly those that move about in shoals, are surrounded by a number of natives, each being provided with a branch of teatree, and slowly driven towards the shore, where they are secured by placing the branches round them and throwing them upon the sand. Some kinds of fish are attracted in the night by a light, knowing which, the natives go into the water with lighted torches of long, dry pieces of bark, and procure great quantities of them. Great excitement prevails among the natives when they are successful in hunting or fishing, each one exclaiming on those occasions, Ngaitye paru, ngaitye paru, i e., "my meat, my meat!" patting his stomach all the time vigorously. Many eulogiums are also bestowed on him to whose skill they owe the feast in prospect. All kinds of meat and fish are roasted on the fire; large animals, such as kangaroos, are skinned and cut into joints, but the smaller sorts are thrown on the fire without being skinned, unless the natives want to save the fur for cloaks. When the