HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS. 443 



rump, and taper; its fore feet are extremely short, 

 and are mostly used in digging or bringing its food 

 to its mouth; it moves altogether on its hind legs, 

 making successive bounds of ten or twelve feet, 

 with such rapidity, as to outstrip the fleetest Grey- 

 hound. In hopping forward, the whole weight of 

 the hinder parts is supported by the tail. It springs 

 from rock to rock, and leaps over bushes seven or 

 eight feet high, with great ease; it has five toes on 

 its fore feet, three on the hind, the middle one very 

 long; the inner claw is divided down the middle 

 into two parts. 



The Kanguroo rests on its hind legs, which are 

 hard, black, and naked on the under side. Its fur 

 is short and soft, of a reddish ash colour, lighter on 

 the lower parts. 



It is the only quadruped our colonists have yet 

 met with in New South Wales that supplies them 

 with animal food. There are two kinds. The 

 largest that had been shot weighed about i4olbs., 

 and measured, from the point of the nose to the 

 end of the tail, six feet one inch ; the tail, two 

 feet one inch ; head eight inches ; fore legs, one 

 foot ; hind legs, two feet eight inches ; circumference 

 of the fore part of the body, near the legs, one 

 foot one inch ; and of the hind part, three feet. 

 The smaller kind seldom exceed 6olbs. 



This animal is furnished with a pouch, similar 

 to that of the Opossum, in which its young are 

 nursed and sheltered. 



