THE KANGAROO. 



47 



of Kangaroos. They then silently arrange themselves so as to surround the uncon- 

 scious animals which are feeding carelessly in the plain. At a preconcerted signal a por- 

 tion of the hunters issue from their concealment and shower their deadly missiles upon 

 the Kangaroos. The poor alarmed creatures flee from the danger, and are met by 

 another party of the same band, who also ply their spears and clubs with deadly effect. 

 Backwards and forwards run the bewildered animals, assailed on all sides by sharp and 

 heavy missiles hurled by the strong arm and directed by the keen eye of the native 

 hunters ; and so well are the plans laid, and with such accurate aim are the deadly 

 weapons thrown, that it seldom happens that a single Kangaroo escapes from the scene 

 of massacre. 



A time of feasting then follows, for these wild children of nature have no conception 

 of thrift, and would think themselves very hardly used were they not allowed to eat 



KANGAROO. Macropus major. 



every particle of food which they could obtain, even though they would be forced to 

 endure the pangs of hunger for many a day afterwards. The quantity of meat that a 

 native Australian will eat at a single meal, and the gallons of water that he will drink, 

 are so astounding as almost to surpass belief. 



Besides these modes of hunting, the native makes use of pitfalls, snares, nets, and 

 other devices, by means of which he contrives to entrap the animal without putting him- 

 self to the trouble of hunting it. 



The white hunters, however, go to work in a very different manner, looking more to 

 the sport than to the number of Kangaroos killed. They are in the habit of breeding 

 and training a certain valuable and peculiar strain of hounds, called, from their quarry, 

 " Kangaroo dogs," and which hunt by sight like the greyhound. These animals are long, 

 large, and powerful ; but even with all these advantages, are no match for a full-grown 



