5'5 



CHAPTER LXIX. 



AUSTRALIAN DOGS. 



The Kangaroo Dog. 



FOR the followin-T remarks we are indebted to Mr. Hugh E. C. Beaver: 



" This dog is essentially Australian, in fact, may be called the national dog of Australia, aa 

 I think it is the only one upon which (until late years) an Australian prided himself. This was 

 natural in the early days of the colonies, when everything was hard to get in the bush flour 

 at a premium, powder and shot not to be lavishly expended, and a sheep (the goose who 

 was to lay the golden eggs by-and-by) not to be killed except in some dire emergency. 

 Kangaroo were plentiful ; too much so, as they ate as much grass as three sheep, and of course 

 did not choose the worst. But they were good to eat, and a dog who was fast enough 

 could kill them, and thus save both mutton and flour, not to talk about powder and shot. 

 It was a common thing in the bush in the old times to hear the ' Boss ' saying at meal times, 

 ' Pitch into the kangaroo, boys, and spare the damper.' A good Kangaroo Dog, therefore, 

 was often a perfect godsend to a struggling squatter. 



" There is no doubt that the Kangaroo Dog is a thorough mongrel as far as the stud-book 

 goes, but he has as great claims to notice as some other manufactured breeds which have sprung 

 up of late years. At first he was no doubt a fast-running savage Collie (the only dogs taken 

 out to Australia in the early days), afterwards crossed with either Greyhound or Deerhound, 

 most likely both, but no one knows exactly. The Collie strain was very evident in the old 

 class of dogs. I remember seeing in New South Wales Kangaroo Dogs with quite bushy 

 tails. When I saw them they were quite past work, but the "old hands" used to say that 

 they were better than the new style of dogs, because although not so fast they were more 

 certain to kill, as they ran by nose as well as sight. In my time they had been improved vastly 

 by crossing with Greyhound, and, in one case that I knew, with Mastiff; and they at that 

 time reminded me extremely of the old country Lurcher, only larger. As a rule they were dark 

 in colour, nearly black, with white hairs intermixed (what might be called grizzly) ; broken-haired, 

 deep-chested, strongly but lightly built, and somewhere between the Greyhound and Deerhound 

 in height and also in appearance. Of course there were other colours ; I am only talking about 

 the most usual. In my time they were gaze-Iiounds. I never saw one ever put his nose 

 down, even when, in pursuit of a kangaroo, he had lost sight. They are hunted in very 

 much the same style as the hare is coursed in this country, except that no slips are used. 

 Two dogs are generally hunted together, the man riding with them by his side over the 

 plains, or wherever he fancies he is likely to drop across the kangaroo. When viewed, the latter 

 generally sit up watching for a time, the hunter going on quietly, trying, of course, to get as 

 close as possible without disturbing them. This is seldom nearer than two to three hundred 

 yards (sometimes much more where they have been hunted often). As soon as the kangaroo 

 moves the man starts galloping, exciting and encouraging the dogs, and trying to point out the 

 flying kangaroo to them. Then the dogs know well what is the matter, and will leap up into 



