s and
arrows. There is also a method of killing certain kinds of birds of
paradise which dance on branches of trees, and certain other kinds
and bower birds, which dance on the ground, [86] by means of nooses
as above described, these being tied to the branch of the tree,
or, in the case of ground nooses, tied to a stick or something in
the ground. The natives know the spots where the birds are dancing,
and place the noose traps there. Another method of killing birds is
adopted on narrow forest-covered ridges of the mountains. An open
space or passage about 2 or 3 yards wide is cut in the bush, across
the ridge; and across this passage are suspended three parallel nets,
the inner or central one being of a close and impassable mesh, and the
two outer ones having a mesh so far open that a bird striking against
it can get through. These nets are made of very fine material, and so
are not easily seen, especially as they are more or less in shade from
the trees on each side of the passage. A bird flying from the valley
on either side towards the ridge is attracted by this open passage,
and flies into and along it; it strikes against one of the more open
outer nets, and gets through it, but is confused and bewildered,
and so is easily stopped by the central close-meshed net, where it
is shot with bow and arrow.

Fishing.

Fishing is carried on by the Mafulu people by means of weirs placed
across streams, the weirs having open sluices with intercepting nets,
and smaller nets being used to catch such fish as escape the big
ones. They do not fish with spears, hooks, or bows and arrows, or
with fishing lines, as is done in Mekeo; and even their weir and net
systems are different from the Mekeo ones. Fishing with them is more
or less communistic, as it is generally engaged in by parties of ten
or twenty men (women do not fish), and sometimes nearly all the men
of a village, or even of a community, join in a fishing expedition;
and everyone in the village or community shares more or less in
the spoil. The fishing season is towards the end of the dry season,
say in October or November, when work in the gardens is over, and the
rivers are low. I cannot give the names of the fishes caught, but was
told that the chief ones are large full-bodied carp-like fish and eels.

The large weir nets are simply ordinary frameless nets about 3 to 5
yards long, and 1 yard wide, with a fairly small mesh. The smaller ones
are hand nets, made in