This is, however, a dangerous feat, and I have known a
native severely wounded in attempting it; a kick from an emu would break
a person's leg, though the natives generally keep so close to the bird as
to prevent it from doing them much harm.

The emu is frequently netted by night through a peculiarity in the habits
of the bird, that is well-known to the natives, and which is, that it
generally comes back every night to sleep on one spot for a long time
together. Having ascertained where the sleeping place is, the natives set
the net at some little distance away, and then supplying themselves with
fire-sticks, form a line from each end of the net, diverging in the
distance. The party may now be considered as forming two sides of a
triangle, with the net at the apex and the game about the middle of the
base; as soon as the sides are formed, other natives arrange themselves
in a line at the base, and put the bird up. The emu finding only one
course free from fire-sticks, viz. that towards the net or apex of the
triangle, takes that direction, and becomes ensnared.

Opossums are of various kinds and sizes. They inhabit the hollows of
trees, or sometimes the tops, where they make a house for themselves with
boughs. They are also found in the holes of rocks. They are hunted both
in the day-time and by moon-light. During the day the native, as he
passes along, examines minutely the bark of the trees, to see whether any
marks have been left by the claws of the animal in climbing on the
previous night. If he finds any he is sure that an opossum is concealed,
either in that tree or one adjoining. The way he distinguishes whether
the marks are recently made or otherwise is, by examining the appearance
of the bark where the wound is, if fresh it is white, has rough edges, or
has grains of sand adhering to it; if otherwise it is dry and brown, and
free from loose particles. Having ascertained that an opossum has
recently been there, he then ascends the tree to look for it; this, if
the tree be in a leaning position, or has a rough bark, is not difficult
to him, and he rarely requires any other aid than his hands and feet; but
if the bark be smooth, and the tree straight, or of very large
dimensions, he requires the assistance of his stone hatchet, or of a
strong sharp-pointed stick, flattened on one side near the point (called
in the Adelaide dialect, "Wadna," in that of Moorunde "Ngakko,"); with
this instrument a notch is made in