414. THE KANGUROO. 



seven or eight feet high, and going progres- 

 sively from rock to rock. It carries its tail quite 

 at right angles with its body when it is in mo- 

 tion, and when it alights often looks back. 

 They have been seen feeding in herds of about 

 thirty or forty, and one is always observed to be 

 apparently on the watch at a distance from the 

 rest. Young kanguroos which have been taken 

 have in a few days grown very tame, but none 

 have lived more than two or three weeks. Yet 

 it is still possible, that, when their proper food 

 shall be better known, they may be domesticat- 

 ed. The tail of the kanguroo, which is very 

 large, is found to be used as a weapon of offence, 

 and has given such severe blows to dogs as to 

 oblige them to desist from pursuit. Its flesh is 

 coarse and lean ; nor would it probably be used 

 for food where there was not a scarcity of fresh 

 provisions. The pouch of the female, hitherto 

 esteemed peculiar to the opossum genus, has 

 been found both in the rat and the squirrel 

 kind in New Holland. 



The Kanguroo Rat is described as similar, both 

 in the general shape of the body and the con- 

 formation of the legs, to the kanguroo ; but the 

 visage having a strong resemblance to that of 

 the rat, and the colour of the whole not ill re- 

 sembling that animal, it has obtained the name 

 of the kanguroo rat. It also is an inhabitant of 

 New Holland. This species has two cutting 

 teeth in front of the upper jaw, with three others 

 on each side of them ; and at a distance one 

 false grinder, sharp at the edge, and fluted on 



