22 NATURAL HISTORY SKETCHES. 



house, without a drop of water, or any food, for days, 

 under a burning sun. Surely this should be prevented. 



Stalking kangaroo in the forest, with a rifle, is, per- 

 haps, the most sporting way of killing them. It has a 

 good deal of excitement in it, and the skill of the shooter 

 is fairly tested. We never used rifles when driving, on 

 account of the danger of a stray ball in a mixed company. 

 But I often used to "lurch" one on the feeding-grounds 

 at night ; in fact, I could generally reckon on a couple of 

 shots any evening, if I went the right way to work. It 

 requires an ounce ball, at least, for this kind of shooting ; 

 for often does the ball, especially a small one, pass right 

 through the kangaroo without stopping it, unless it 

 chances to hit a vital part. But stalking, except in the 

 wildest bush, is dangerous work, if a man is not very 

 careful ; and I had one or two narrow escapes myself in 

 our forests from rifle-balls. 



I could any day kill a brace of kangaroo by walking 

 through the thick forest, with the dogs driving them in 

 all directions around me ; and this and stalking are the 

 only methods which a man can adopt, unless his party is 

 strong enough for driving. The great objection to this 

 sport, however, is that the hind-quarter must be carried 

 home at once to the tent, perhaps two or three miles 

 through the forest, unless near some bush road or well- 

 known spot, where it can be left " till called for." 



The approved method of preparing and carrying home 

 a hind-quarter when killed, is to skin all the fore-quarter, 

 and cut it away at the rib next below the kidneys, leaving 



