2i NATT7EAL HISTORY SKETCHES. 



enough to get well planted before the kangaroos come 

 up. Of course the driver must know where the guns will 

 be stationed, and a good knowledge of the country is 

 indispensable to him. The shooters are planted across a 

 certain portion of the wood, in a line, about 150 yards 

 apart, each one choosing a good run, with the shelter of 

 a tree or bush. The best plan for the shooter is to sit at 

 the foot of a large tree, not to stand behind it, as I 

 have seen many do ; and when the kangaroo are in sight, 

 be very careful not to stir a limb, or even to move the 

 gun, till they are well within shot. The driver goes 

 round on horseback with the dogs, and when well round 

 the kangaroo, he gallops on to them, and sends the mob 

 right up to the shooters. On they come, crashing 

 through the timber like a troop of cavalry, and " bang, 

 bang," puts every one on the qui vive. Sometimes the 

 mob breaks the line at one point, and only one man gets 

 a shot ; but, after the first shot, they often divide, and 

 run right down the line, when every gun pours in 

 its broadside. Kangaroo-driving certainly beats deer- 

 shooting in one respect ; for a man, who at all under- 

 stands it, is sure to have three or four shots in the day. 

 I always, if possible, like to be planted about the middle 

 of the line, or else sneak right away down below all the 

 other shooters, and never choose the first stand. It is a 

 good plan, if a shooter sees the whole mob breaking 

 the line together, to give them a shot, even if out of dis- 

 tance ; for this will sometimes turn them down the line. 

 I always had two guns ready, and have sometimes brought 



