62 RAMBLESOF 



over each other, the frightened creature was acci- 

 dentally struck down by one of the workmen, during 

 one of its beautiful leaps, and killed. As the hunters 

 saw nothing worthy of attention in the dead body 

 of the animal, they very willingly resigned it to me; 

 and with great satisfaction I retreated to a willow 

 shade, to read what nature had written in. its form 

 for my instruction. The general appearance was 

 mouse-like; but the length and slenderness of the 

 body, the shortness of its fore-limbs, and the dis- 

 proportionate length of its hind-limbs, together with 

 the peculiarity of its tail, all indicated its adaptation 

 to the peculiar kind of action I had just witnessed. 

 A sight of this little creature vaulting or bounding 

 through the air, strongly reminded me of what I 

 had read of the great kangaroo of New Holland; 

 and I could not help regarding our little jumper 

 as in some respects a sort of miniature resemblance 

 of that curious animal. It was not evident, how- 

 ever, that the jumping mouse derived the aid from 

 its tail, which so powerfully assists the kangaroo. 

 Though long, and sufficiently stout in proportion, it 

 had none of the robust muscularity which, in the 

 New Holland animal, impels the lower part of the 

 body immediately upward. In this mouse, the leap 

 is principally, if not entirely, effected by a sudden 

 and violent extension of the long hind-limbs, the 

 muscles of which are strong, and admirably suited 

 to their object. We have heard that these little 

 animals feed on the roots, etc. of the green herbage, 

 and that they are every season to be found in the 



