142 THE KANGAKOO. 



feet six iDches, counting from the nose to the tip of the tail ; the head 

 and body exceed four feet, and the tail is rather more than three feet 

 in length. The circumference of the tail at its base is about a foot. 

 When it sits erect after its curious tripedal fashion, supported by its 

 hind-quarters and tail, its height is rather more than fifty inches; but 

 when it wishes to survey the country, and stands erect upon its toes, it 

 surpasses in height many a well-grown man. The female is very much 

 smaller than her mate, being under six feet in total length, and the dif- 

 ference in size is so great that the two sexes might be well taken for 

 different species. 



The weight of a full-grown male — or "Boomer," as it is more famil- 

 iarly called — is very considerable, one hundred and sixty pounds hav- 

 ing often been attained, and even greater weight being on record. The 

 color of the animal is brown, mingled with gray, the gray predom- 

 inating on the under portions of the body and the under faces of the 

 limbs. The fore-feet are black, as is also the tip of the tail. 



As the Kangaroo is a valuable animal, not only for the sake of its 

 skin, but on account of its flesh, which is in some estimation among 

 the human inhabitants of the same land, it is eagerly sought after by 

 hunters, both white and black, and affords good sport to both on ac- 

 count of its speed, its vigor, and its wariness. The native hunter, who 

 trusts chiefly to his own cunning and address for stealing unobserved 

 upon the animal and lodging a spear in its body before it is able to 

 elude its subtle enemy, finds the Kangaroo an animal which will test 

 all his powers before he can attain his object, and lay the Kangaroo 

 dead upon the ground. 



The male Kangaroo, or " Boomer," is a dangerous antagonist to man 

 and dog, and unless destroyed by missile weapons will often prove more 

 than a match for the combined efforts of man and beast. 



When the animal finds that it is overpowered in endeavor by the 

 swift and powerful Kangaroo dogs, which are bred for the express pur- 

 pose of chasing this one kind of prey, it turns suddenly to bay, and 

 placing its back against a tree-trunk, so that it cannot be attacked from 

 behind, patiently awaits the onset of its adversaries. Should an un- 

 wary dog approach within too close a distance of the Kangaroo, the 

 animal launches so terrible a blow with its hinder feet that the long 

 and pointed claw, with which the hinder foot is armed, cuts like a 

 knife, and has often laid open the entire body of the dog with a single 

 blow. The claw which is thus used is so long, hard, and sharp that it 

 is sometimes used as a head to a spear. 



When running, the creature has a curious habit of looking back 

 every now and then, and has sometimes unconsciously committed sui- 

 cide % leaping against one of the tree-stumps which are so plentifully 

 found in the districts inhabited by the Kangaroo. 



