a tuft of long grass, or flag (Philydrum lanuginosum) or split pandanus
leaves, either hanging loosely or passed between the legs and tied to
another behind; over this a short petticoat of fine shreds of pandanus
leaf, the ends worked into a waistband, is sometimes put on, especially
by the young girls, and when about to engage in dancing. This petticoat,
varying only in the materials from which it is made, is in general use
among the females of all the Torres Strait tribes except the Kowrarega,
and much labour is often expended upon its construction. The large mats
used as sails, also for sleeping under in wet weather, are made by the
women from the fallen leaves of the pandanus--the common basket from the
rush-like leaves of Xerotes banksii ? --and the water basket from the
sheath of the leaf of the Seaforthia palm.

The food of these blacks varies with the season of the year, and the
supply is irregular and often precarious. Shellfish and fish are alone
obtainable all the year round--collecting the former is exclusively a
female occupation, but fishing is chiefly practised by the men. Fish are
either killed with a plain pointed spear, often merely a stick sharpened
at the end, or are taken in deep water with the hook and line. Their
hooks are made of a strip of tortoise-shell so much curved as to form
three-fourths of a circle, but from their shape and the absence of a barb
they cannot be so effective as those of European make: indeed these last
were at Cape York preferred by the natives themselves. The line is neatly
made from the tough fibres of the rattan, which are first scraped to the
requisite degree of fineness with a sharp-edged Cyrena shell, then
twisted and laid up in three strands.

Turtle forms an important article of food, and four different kinds are
distinguished at Cape York and the Prince of Wales Islands. Three of
these can be identified as the Green, the Hawksbill, and the Loggerhead