CHAP, ix.] IMPROVIDENCE OF THE WHITES. 357 



able flavour, being far preferable to that of the Kan- 

 garoo."* So that not only is there facility of capture 

 to allure the passing sportsman, but also daintiness of 

 flesh to tempt the hungry traveller. 



It is usual with Englishmen to spare the hen Phea- 

 sants in their own preserves ; but a similar forbearance 

 can hardly be expected to be exercised by famishing ex- 

 plorers of the wilderness towards those female Emeus 

 that fall in their way. The same Sir T. Mitchell relates 

 exultingly, " This day we had even better fortune than 

 yesterday in our field sports, for, besides three Kan- 

 garoos, we also killed two Emeus, one being a female, 

 and then esteemed a great prize ; for I had discovered 

 that the eggs found in the ovarium of the Emeu were a 

 great luxury in the Bush, affording us a light and 

 palatable breakfast for several days."f This is certainly 

 one way to check the increase of population in any race 

 to hunt up the females for the sake of their unborn 

 young ; and Sir Thomas shows the natives by his ex- 

 ample how well he appreciates their self-denial during 

 a season of short commons. It cannot, we think, be 

 wondered at if the natives occasionally proceed ahead of 

 a party of mischievous intruding " White-fellows," and 

 drive off both those birds arid the Kangaroos from their 

 expected track of female Emeu stalking. They do not 

 indiscriminately indulge in the flesh of so valuable a 

 part of their live-stock ; and the same traveller had pre- 

 viously witnessed an instance of their abstinence : " On 

 my return to the camp, I found the dogs had killed an 

 Emeu. It is singular that none of the natives would 

 eat of this bird : the reasons they gave were that they 



* Eastern Australia, vol. i. p. 292. f Idem, vol. ii. p. 168. 



