96 LEAVES EROM THE 



its enemy, and whicli finds a more secure asylum on the 

 extensive plains of the interior, is not safe from its attacks ; 

 and ]Mi'. Cunningham mentions even the emew as its 

 prey. But the kanguroos seem to have been its staple, 

 and probably still are in those parts of the interior where 

 civilized man has not yet penetrated. Of the multitudes 

 of those quadrupeds in old times, we may judge by the- 

 account given by Captain Flinders of Kanguroo Island, 

 where they were living in amity with the seals, as appears 

 from the picturesque engraving from the drawing made 

 by the lamented Mr, Westall. The captain writes that 

 it was too late to go on shore in the evening of Sunday, 

 21st March, 1802, but every glass in the ship was pointed 

 there to see what could be discovered. Several black 

 lumps, like rocks, were asserted to have been seen in 

 motion by some of the young gentlemen, of whom the 

 gallant Su* John Franklin, for whose safety all good men 

 pray, was one. Next morning a number of dark-brown 

 kanguroos were observed peaceably feeding upon a gTass- 

 plat by the side of a wood, and the landing of Captain 

 Flinders and his party gave the unsuspecting animals no 

 disturbance. 



I (wTites the captain) had with me a double-haiTelled gun, fitted 

 with a bayonet, and the gentlemen, my companions, had muskets. 

 It would be difficult to guess how many kanguroos were seen; 

 but I killed ten, and the rest of the party made up the number to 

 thirty-one, taken on board in the course of the day — the least of 

 them weighing sixty-nine, and the largest one huncbed and twentj'- 

 five pounds. These kanguroos had much resemblance to the large 

 species foimd in the forest lands of New South Wales ; except that 

 their colour was darker, and they were not wholly destitute of 

 fat. 



The captain records this slaughter with some com- 

 punction. 



furlong. The captain remarks that the flesh of this bird is distri- 

 buted in a manner du-ectly contraiy to that of the domestic tm-key ; 

 the white meat being upon the legs, and the black upon the 

 breast. 



