FIG. 50.  GOURD RICE HOLDER.

The small crop of sugar-cane is made into an alcoholic drink, which is sometimes indulged in at meal time but is generally reserved for festive occasions.  The juice is boiled with a plant called palba, similar to ginger, and is stored away in bamboo tubes until it has reached a suitable stage of fermentation.  Another drink is made by boiling strained honey with the palba and allowing it to ferment.

HUNTING AND FISHING

A considerable portion of the food supply is secured by hunting and fishing.  Small birds are captured by placing a sticky substance on bare limbs of fruit-bearing trees, or by fastening gummed sticks in places frequented by birds.  When a victim alights on this it is held securely until captured by the hunter.  Fig. 51 shows another method of securing such small game.  A cord with a noose at one end is attached to a bent limb.  In the center of this cord is tied a short stick which acts as a trigger.  This trigger is placed with the top end pressing against an arched twig a, while the other end draws b against the sides of the arch.  Other sticks rest on b and on them is a covering of leaves on which is placed bait and the open noose.  The weight of a bird or small animal on the cross-piece is sufficient to release the trigger and then the bent limb draws the noose taut.

FIG. 51.  BIRD SNARE.

The series of slip nooses attached to a central cord which surrounds a tame decoy is also found in use here, and boys frequently secure birds by means of blow-guns.  The latter do not differ from those already described on p. 73, but with this tribe they are regarded only as a boy’s plaything.

Deer and pig are sometimes hunted by large parties with the aid of dogs.  In such cases an attempt is made to drive the animals past concealed hunters, or to dispatch them with spears when brought to bay by the dogs.  The more successful method, however, is by means of traps several types of which were seen by the writer.  The first and most common is a dead fall consisting of a heavy log so arranged in the runway of the game that a passing animal will cause it to fall.  Next in favor with the hunters is the bayatik.  One end of a sapling is tied horizontally to a tree and is then bent back like a spring.  It is held in place by means of a trigger which is released when an animal disturbs a vine stretched across the runway.  Against the free end of the spring a long bamboo spear or arrow is placed in such a manner that it is thrown with great force against the animal which has released the trigger.  This trap is frequently used in warfare to protect the retreat of a war party, or to surprise an enemy.

Sharpened bamboo sticks, two or three feet long, planted at points where animals are accustomed to jump or run down steep inclines, are wonderfully efficient in securing game.  Sticks and leaves cover pits in which sharpened poles are planted and into these unsuspecting animals or members of a hostile party often fall.  All these last named devices are exceedingly dangerous and it is unadvisable for a traveler in the jungle to try to penetrate a strange region unless accompanied by a native who knows the position of the traps and pits.