A Kangaroo Hunt 



" My word/' he exclaimed, " we are in 

 luck. This is grand kangaroo weather." 



The kangaroo is a late feeder, so we 

 deferred our start until about four o'clock 

 in the afternoon. The wind was still roar- 

 ing loudly in the tall gum-trees, and the 

 rain poured in streams down our glistening 

 oil-skins when we set out. Thanks to the 

 inclemency of the weather, we were not 

 obliged to exercise any great caution in 

 approaching the feeding-ground, and the 

 dull light minimized the chances of our 

 being seen. The only real danger lay in 

 the possibility of the game getting wind 

 of us ; for no animal has a keener scent 

 than the kangaroo, and to none is the odor 

 of man more antipathetic. We found that 

 the spot indicated by young Wilkinson 

 was a " selector's " clearing in the forest, 

 a bit of fairly level ground half a mile or 

 so in width, which lay at the bottom of a 

 small valley between two low spurs of the 

 foot-hills. Covered with rich grass, and 

 surrounded as it was on all sides by the 

 primeval forest, it was the likeliest place 

 in the world for kangaroo ; and, as we ap- 

 proached, Wilkinson assured us that we 

 could count with certainty upon their re- 

 turning frequently to so favorable a feed- 

 ing-ground. We were rather disappointed, 



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