Thread put through with the hand; the thread is made of the
sinews of the emu and kangaroo. The netting needle is a little round bit
of stick or reed, about the size of a lead pencil, round which the string
is wound, no mesh is used, the eye and hand enabling the native to net
with the utmost regularity, speed, and neatness.
The nets for hunting, for carrying their effects or food, for making
belts for the waist, or bandages for the head, are all made from the
tendons or fur of animals, or from the fibres of plants. In the former,
the sinews of the kangaroo or emu, and the fur of opossums and other
similar animals, are used; in the latter, a species of rush, the fibres
of the root of the mallow, the fibres of the root of the broad flag-reed,
etc. and in some parts of the continent, the fibrous bark of trees. The
materials are prepared for use by being soaked in water and carded with
the teeth and hands, or by being chewed or rubbed.
String is made by the fibres being twisted, and rubbed with the palm of
the hand over the naked thighs, and is often as neatly executed as
English whip-cord, though never consisting of more than two strands, - the
strands being increased in thickness according to the size of the cord
that may be required.
