186 HUNTING ADVENTURES. 



nets of this kind forty feet in length, and curie, sly manufactured 

 out of the fibre's of bulrush root. 



Mr. Angas relates the following interesting picture of the 

 chase : 



" In the hollow valleys bordering upon the scrub we frequently 

 put up kangaroos. These timid creatures, which we disturbed 

 while they were feeding, immediately took to the desert; and 

 many a famous chase we had after them, over gum bushes and 

 the rough surface of the loose limestone rocks. It is an extra- 

 ordinary sight to see so large an animal clearing the bushes, and 

 springing high into the air with such astonishing agility. To-day 

 we put up a ( boomer ' and a couple of dogs : we took after the 

 former, the dogs following close upon his track. Down-hill our 

 horses were the losers, the kangaroo gaining on us rapidly by 

 his enormous flying leaps ; but at two miles the dogs closed with 

 him, and we came up as he stood at bay. He was a noble crea 

 ture, and fought desperately with his fore-paws ; a single kick 

 with his hind feet would have laid any one of the dogs dead. It 

 was a cruel sight to see the poor beast struggling hard for life 

 beneath the bright sky, in his own free deserts ; his large and 

 eloquent eyes filled with tears, and, his head and shoulders covered 

 with blood.' 



The same tourist next gives us the following animated descrip- 

 tion of a sporting excursion : 



" About thirty miles to the north-west of Boston Bay is a range 

 of mountains called the Marble Range, near which is a beautiful 

 lake of fresh water, known as Waungarrie Lake. I started with 

 two companions, on horseback, to visit this interesting tract of 

 country, which was only known to a few of the settlers, and 

 promised to afford good subjects for my pencil. At three milei 

 from the settlement we reached ' the Swamp,' so called from a 

 reedy lake adjoining the farm. Several other stations were 

 passed, belonging to flock-owners and agricultural settlers, and 

 we then struck into a grassy country studded with casuarina and 

 Bunktia trees. Farther on, the aspect of the scene was very 



