Emu were plucked, the insides taken out, and the birds filled up with hot stones, box leaves, and some of their own feathers.

A fire was made in a hole; when it was burnt down, leaves and emu feathers were put in it, on top of these the bird, on top of it leaves and feathers again, then a good layer of hot ashes, and over all some earth.
The piggiebillahs were first smoked so that their quills might be easily knocked off.

This done, the insides were taken out, then the piggiebillahs were put in little holes made beside the fire, and covered over with hot ashes, as were also opossums, ducks and other birds, iguanas and fish.
Ducks were plucked by our tribe, but in some places they were encased thickly in mud, buried in the ashes to cook, and, when done, the plaster of mud would be knocked off, and with it would come all the feathers.
The insides of iguanas and fish are taken out all in one piece.

Each fish carries in its inside a representation of its Minggah--spirit tree; by drying the inside and pressing it you can plainly see the imprint of the tree.
When we go bathing, the blacks tell me that the holes in the creek filled with gum leaves are codfish nests.

They say too, that when they beat the river to drive the fish out towards the net waiting for them, that they hear the startled cod sing out.
Mussels and crayfish are cooked in the ashes.
The seagulls, which occasionally we used to see inland, are said to have brought the first mussels to the back creeks.
Emu eggs the blacks roll in hot ashes, shake, roll again; shake once more, and then bury them in the ashes, where they are left for about an hour until they are baked hard, when they are eaten with much relish and apparently no hurt to digestion, though one egg is by no means considered enough for a meal in spite of its being equal to several eggs of our domestic hen.
Not only are the blacks very particular in the way their game is carved or divided, but also in the distribution of the portions allotted to each person.