41 y The Australian Bush, 



that of a kangaroo being strangled by a boa-constrictor more than 

 twice as long as itself. Now^ as I certainly never myself saw a snake 

 in Australia more than about six feet long, and never even heard, 

 among all the marvels which are related round a camp fire, of one 

 longer than ten feet — (this was a bullock-driver's measure) 3 and as 

 he had just before been telling us that once when crossing a plain 

 on the Sydney side with his bullock-dray, he saw a patch of grass 

 on one side of the road rustling as if it was alive with something, 

 for at least six acres, and on going to the spot he found that it was 

 a colony of snakes gathered together, disporting hither and thither 

 in the long grass — (I wonder the lie did not choke him) — I hardly 

 placed much reliance on his ten-foot snake 3 — and as I beheve the 

 only species of boa peculiar to Australia is a very diminutive fellow, 

 I dipped further into the volume, and the next picture, entitled "A 

 Fight with a Kangaroo," — representing two striphngs of lads, per- 

 haps fourteen years old, the one actually engaged in wrestling with 

 an old man kangaroo, a regular boomer, while the other was 

 attacking him witli a case-knife behind — settled the matter in 

 my mind at once. Why, the strongest bushman that ever lived 

 would have stood no chance whatever if the kangaroo once could 

 put the hug on him in the manner he is doing to the lad in the 

 picture. I was, I must confess, rather startled at this 3 and then 1 

 did what I ought to have done before I threw away my 3^. — 

 turned to the title-page, and found that the book was written by " a 

 lady!" who tells us in her preface that ''in order to stimulate the 

 spirit of inquiry in youth, she is encouraged to continue to supply 

 the young with books which do not profess to be true, although 

 they are composed of truths." My wig! — what a sell! Well, as 

 I had bought my book, I thought I might as well read it through j 

 and I found that the title of the book was as great a fiction as the 

 book itself 3 for instead of enlightening us as to the chase of the 

 kangaroo, it contains the fancied adventures of an emigrant family 

 who were cast away somewhere or other on the Australian coast, 

 and got bushed 3 and, after wandering pretty well all over the 

 colony, encountermg hardships which it was a real mercy they 



