HUNTING THE KANGAROO. 185 



its oddities. Every one familiar with the writings of Sydney 

 Smith will recollect his ludicrous portrait of the kangaroo, "a 

 monstrous animal, as tall as a grenadier, with the head of a 

 rabbit, a tail as big as a bedpost, hopping along at the rate of 

 five hops to a mile, with three or four young Kangaroos looking 

 out of its false uterus, to see what is passing." 



That extraordinary animal, the Kangaroo, discovered by Captain 

 Cook, is now so well known, that a description of it, in addition to 

 our illustrations, would be superfluous. Our countrymen pursued 

 it in New Holland with greyhounds, and the leaps which it took 

 surprised those who beheld it clear obstacles seven or eight feet 

 high. In size it equals a sheep, some of the largest weighing 

 1401bs ; and the flesh is represented by those who have tasted it 

 as being a little like venison. The tail is said to make rich and 

 savory soup. The species breed pretty freely in England, and 

 has been kept with success in our parks. 



Of Kangaroos there exist a great variety of different species : 

 among the larger ones is the common Kangaroo, called the 

 "Forester" and "the Old Man" in New South Wales; and 

 the red and woolly Kangaroos. They associate together in herds 

 of greater or less extent upon the open downs and forests devoid 

 of underwood, feed exclusively upon grass and vegetables ; and 

 though never fat, are held in high estimation by colonial epicures. 



The native name for the Kangaroo is" boomer;" hence the 

 boomerang, the strange-looking, angular implement with which 

 the Australians kill the animal ; and the throwing of which has 

 puzzled our mechanicians, and amused our boyhood. 



The natives are very cunning in taking the kangaroo. They 

 go forth to the chase armed, only with a slender spear and a short 

 stick ; depending more on their own subtlety and acuteness, 

 when in pursuit of wild animals, than on the efficiency of their 

 weapons. The scrub natives go out in large parties, and surround 

 their game, drive them towards large nets, in which they become 

 entangled. Mr. Angas, in his " Savage Life and Scenes in 

 At ralia and New Zealand," tells us that he has seen single 



