20 A NATURALIST IN CANNIBAL LAND 



feeding-grounds to their haunts in the scrub. Some- 

 times we encountered the kangaroos lying in their 

 wallows. Then the unfortunate kangaroo would be 

 shot as it sat. If the kangaroos were encountered 

 on the move, the plan was to attract their attention 

 so that they would stop out of curiosity for a moment. 

 That moment would be taken advantage of by the 

 shooter. 



It was not sport ; it was shooting for gain. Some 

 of the men would get five or six kangaroos in a day. 

 The kangaroos seemed to be very stupid. If you shot 

 one of a mob in a wallow, you could be sure, by 

 going the next day, to find the remainder of the mob 

 back in the same place. They never seemed to learn 

 that a spot was dangerous. When the kangaroos 

 were shot they would be skinned at once, and we 

 would bring the skins back to camp and peg them 

 out there. Sometimes if meat were short in the camp 

 one of us would bring back the tail of a kangaroo, the 

 only part of the animal which is usually eaten. The 

 usual weapon used was a 44 Winchester. Altogether 

 I stayed in the kangaroo-shooting camp some three 

 or four months, during which time I sent out to 

 my father many specimens for stuffing of kangaroo, 

 wallaby and wallaroo skins. 



It was probably the undertaking of this amount 

 of collecting that revived in me some enthusiasm for 

 Natural History. At any rate I took the opportunity 

 of an invitation that was given to me to go back to 



