BUSH LIFE 247 



them, and brought down a dozen with the two barrels ; but 

 they proved to be so small when plucked, that the lot was 

 no more than a sufficient meal for a hungry man. How- 

 ever, kangaroos were so numerous that I had no difficulty 

 in procuring one for a supply of meat. 



Kangaroos, invariably stated in works on natural 

 history to be nocturnal in their habits, are always to be 

 found at any hour of the day. For an hour or two before 

 noon and after it they usually rest, lying under trees, 

 bushes, or amongst scrub ; and during this rest they are 

 very playful among themselves, the old males excepted. 

 Where they have not been much disturbed by hunters, 

 native or white, they will feed during daylight, though 

 generally they prefer the dusk of evening for this purpose. 

 The habits of species, however, vary, and locality has its 

 influences. 



Finding the features of the country very monotonous 

 and unvarying, I turned homewards, making a big sweep 

 to the north. As far as I could see from the top of a hill 

 about seven hundred feet high, which I ascended at the 

 end of the day's ride, the country was a poorly-wooded 

 plain, with hills and ridges such as I have described 

 scattered over it. The trees were small, and not even the 

 banks of the one or two streams I passed had a fringe of 

 wood along them. Possibly this country may be fairly 

 good grazing land ; it certainly, for Australia, is an 

 abundantly watered district, and saline pools are 

 not very prevalent. But it is not a picturesque region ; 

 and the comparative scarcity of wood is a great draw- 

 back, for in some places the scanty supply would not be 

 sufficient for fuel. To the naturalist the country has its 

 attractions, for it is thickly peopled with some of the 

 most interesting forms of Australian animal and vegetable 

 life, many of which I am compelled to leave unnoticed. 

 Of the multitudes of parrots and water-fowl I have made 

 frequent mention ; in addition to these, there are in this 

 district several of the brightest coloured of our finches or 

 passeres, and several curious birds, as the brush-turkeys, etc., 

 which have no representatives in other parts of the world. 



