A Kangaroo Hunt 



perfect security, perhaps lulled by the 

 weather; and even the " old man" only 

 raised himself occasionally to gaze about 

 in a lazy sort of way, while he chewed his 

 last mouthful of grass, and then lowered 

 himself with a gentle and graceful move- 

 ment, and proceeded to feed again. He 

 was a tremendous fellow, seven or eight 

 feet in height, as could be seen, even at 

 this distance ; and we were constrained to 

 admit that the enthusiasm of the youth- 

 ful Wilkinson had been entirely justified. 

 After fifteen minutes of extremely careful 

 stalking, R. succeeded in approaching 

 within sixty yards of the herd without 

 awakening their suspicions. Then stand- 

 ing up boldly, and profiting by the mo- 

 mentary surprise of the kangaroos, he 

 brought the " old man ' down with a 

 well-aimed shot below and behind the 

 shoulder. As had been foreseen, the rest 

 of the herd immediately made off in our 

 direction ; but instead of scattering pell- 

 mell as other wild animals would have 

 done under like circumstances, these queer 

 denizens of a queer country fell into line, 

 and departed in regular Indian file, the big 

 old doe leading the way, and the smallest 

 diminutive pickaninnies bringing up the 

 rear. The doe covered the ground with 



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