Journals Of Expeditions Of Discovery Into Central Australia And Overland From Adelaide To King George's Sound In The Years 1840-1: Sent By The Colonists Of South Australia By Eyre, Edward John
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It Is Extraordinary To See A
Party Of Women Plunge Into The Water On A Cold Dark Night, And Swim And
Dive About Amongst Logs, Stumps, Roots, And Weeds Without Ever Hurting
Themselves, And Seldom Failing To Obtai The Object Of Their Search.
Turtle are procured in the same way, but generally by the men, and in the
day time.
Muscles of a very large kind are also got by diving. The women whose duty
it is to collect these, go into the water with small nets (len-ko) hung
round their necks, and diving to the bottom pick up as many as they can,
put them into their bags, and rise to the surface for fresh air,
repeating the operation until their bags have been filled. They have the
power of remaining for a long time under the water, and when they rise to
the surface for air, the head and sometimes the mouth only is exposed. A
stranger suddenly coming to the river when they were all below, would be
puzzled to make out what the black objects were, so frequently appearing
and disappearing in the water.
Cray-fish of the small kind (u-kod-ko) weighing from four to six ounces
are obtained by the women wading into the water as already described, or
by men wading and using a large bow-net, called a "wharro," which is
dragged along by two or three of them close to the bottom where the water
is not too deep.
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Page 683 of 914
Words from 190579 to 190828
of 254601