NATURAL HISTORY. 



Ill 



" And on the playn of these valleys there were merualouse, 

 great marshes, and dangerous passages." FROISSAIIT. 



342. These proportions are reversed in quadrupeds of slow locomotive powers, cf 

 which the giraffe is one of the most remarkable examples. In this animal a great 

 proportionate length is given to its fore-lega ; so that, notwithstanding the length 

 of its neck, it would be incapable of taking its food from the surface upon which it 

 stands. Nature has, however, beneficially adapted the wants of the animal to its 

 structure ; and, while its head is elevated to a height of twenty feet above the 

 ground, nourishment situated at a corresponding elevation is supplied in the foliage 

 of the trees. 



343. Why is the bounding movement of the kanguroo admirably 

 adapted to the localities they inhabit ? 



Because kangaroos inhabit a country where there are enormous 

 tufts of the coarsest grass, growing on swamps or marshy ground, 

 several feet in height, and at a considerable distance from each 

 other ; or else they frequent rocky or bushy ground. By means 

 of the bound which they are enabled to execute they can clear 

 from twelve to twenty feet in length and several feet in height, 

 from one tufb of grass, or from one rock or bush, to another, and 

 thus escape from their pursuers. 



344. In kanguroos which have been bred and domesticated in this country, the 

 size and strength of the tail diminishes, and the animals more frequently use all 

 four of their feet in running. This is a strong illustration of the care taken by a 

 beneficent Providence of its creatures, in furnishing them with the means best 



