So contractible and tough is the skin, that once the point of the
harpoon is embedded in it, nothing but a strong and direct tug will
release it. Some blacks substitute for the barbless point four pieces of
thin fencing wire--each about 4 inches long, bound tightly together at
one end, the loose ends being sharpened and slightly diverged. This is
fastened to the line and inserted in the socket of the haft, and when it
hits it holds to the death, though the animal may weigh three-quarters
of a ton.
It is stated that the blacks towards Cape York having secured the animal
with a line attached to a dart insufficient in length to penetrate the
hide and the true skin, seize it by the nose, and plug the nostrils with
their fingers until it drowns. Here, too, the natives have discovered
that the nose is the vulnerable part of the dugong, and having first
harpooned it in any part of the body, await an opportunity of spearing
it there, with almost invariably speedy fatal effects.
The flesh of a young dugong is sweet and tender, and the blubber,
dry-cured after the manner of bacon with equal quantities of salt and
sugar and finally smoked, quite a delicacy.
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