is also pretty to see the dark body of the native against the moonlight
as he climbs the tree, forcing the poor opossum to retreat to the very
end of some branch, whence he is shaken off or knocked down with a stick.
The natives themselves like these moonlight expeditions and speak with
enthusiasm of them. They are particularly fond of spearing fish at
certain seasons of the year, in which case they go along the shoal water
with a light, and proceed exactly in the manner still practised in
Scotland and Ireland.

CATCHING FROGS. METHOD OF TAKING SHELLFISH.

The season of the year in which the natives catch the greatest quantity
of frogs and freshwater shellfish is when the swamps are nearly dried up;
these animals then bury themselves in holes in the mud, and the native
women with their long sticks and long thin arms, which they plunge up to
the shoulder in the slime, manage to drag them out; at all seasons
however they catch some of these animals, but in summer a whole troop of
native women may be seen paddling about in a swamp, slapping themselves
to kill the mosquitoes and sandflies, and every now and then plunging
their arms down into the mud, and dragging forth their prey. I have often
seen them with ten or twelve pounds weight of frogs in their bag.

Frogs are cooked on a slow fire of wood ashes. They are then held in one
hand by the hind legs, and a dexterous pinch with the finger and thumb of
the other at once removes the lower portion of the intestines. The
remainder of the animal is then taken at a mouthful and fairly eaten from
the head to the toes.

The freshwater shellfish vary in size from that of a prawn to a large
crayfish; the smallest are the best, and when nicely roasted there is no
difference in taste between them and a shrimp. It is worthy of remark
that the natives in the south-western part of Australia will not touch
freshwater mussels, which are very abundant in the rivers, whilst in the
north-western part of the continent they form a staple article of food.

GRUBS AND WALLABIES.

Grubs are principally procured by the natives from the Xanthorrhoea or
grass-tree, but they are also found in wattle-trees, and in dead timber;
those found in the grass-tree have a fragrant aromatic flavour and taste
very like a nice nut. Their presence in a tree is thus ascertained: if
the top of the tree is observed to be dead the native gives it a few
sharp kicks with his foot, when, if it contains any barde or