THE KANGABOO. 11 



As most of my readers probably are aware, the kan- 

 garoo, like nearly every other animal indigenous to 

 Australia, is " marsupial," i. e., the female is provided 

 with a pouch outside the bottom of the stomach, in 

 which are the teats, to one of which the yoimg foetus 

 is attached during the period of gestation, I believe 

 about sixty days ; and when fully formed, — as soon in fact 

 as the young one begins to live, it becomes detached 

 from the teat, which now supplies it with milk. "When 

 the young one leaves the teat, it is in an equal state of 

 development to the new-born offspring of any other 

 animal ; in fact, this pouch appears to be the womb of 

 all these marsupial animals, and not, as many suppose, 

 merely a place of refuge in which the old mother carries 

 her young. Here the young one at first principally lives, 

 till able to run at the foot of the mother ; but even then, 

 when danger is near, it tumbles head over heels into the 

 pouch for protection ; and it is wonderful how quickly the 

 old doe can pick up the joey when running at full speed, 

 and shove it into the pouch, its pretty little face always 

 outside. There she carries it till hard pressed, when the 

 love of life overcomes the love of the mother, and she 

 then casts it away to save herself. This, in bush phra-- 

 seology, is termed " dinging the joey." I once saw an 

 eagle-hawk chasing a doe kangaroo with a heavy joey in 

 the pouch through the forest. The cunning bird kept 

 stroke for stroke with the kangaroo, which it hardly dare 

 attack; but it well knew, as soon as the old mother 

 became exhausted, she would cast away the young one. 



