The pagan tribes of Borneo - Get a Free Blog Here

136 PAGAN TRIBES OF BORNEO chap.
rapids, one turning up stones, the other catching in
the net the fish that dart from beneath them.
Yet another mode of netting fish is to suspend a
square of net attached by its corners to the ends of
two crossed and downward bending sticks. The
net is suspended by cords from its corners to the end
of a long bamboo, which rests upon a post about its
middle. The fisherman lowers the net into the
water by raising the landward end of the bamboo
lever, and when he sees fish swimming above it,
attracted by a bait, he suddenly depresses his end
of the bamboo, so as to bring the net quickly above
the surface. On the coast drag nets are used.
The selambo is used in small streams where fish
are abundant. A fence of upright bamboos is built
out from either bank, starting at opposite points
and converging down stream to two points near the
middle of the stream and about seven feet apart ;
where each terminates a stout pole is driven firmly
into the bed of the river. These two poles are connected
by a stout cross-piece lashed to them a little
above the level of the water. The cross-piece forms
a fulcrum for a pair of long poles joined together
with cross-pieces, in such a way that their downstream
ends almost meet, while up stream they
diverge widely. They rest upon the fulcrum at a
point about one-third of their length from their downstream
ends. Between the widely divergent parts
up stream from the fulcrum a net is loosely stretched.
The net lies submerged until fish coming down
stream are directed on to the net by the convergent
fences. The fisherman stands on a rude platform
grasping the handle-end, and, feeling the contacts of
the fishes with the net, throws his weight upon the
handle, so bringing the net quickly above the surface.
Beside him he has a large cage of bamboo standing
in the water, into which the fish are allowed to slide
from the elevated net.