THE WALLABY. 33 



deal of attention ; and the dogs about a busli tent are 

 generally the greatest thieves in the world, and take 

 some looking after. The hams of the old-men kangaroo 

 rarely turn out well. 



The Wallaby is a species of small brush kangaroo, 

 about the size of a yearling kangaroo. The general 

 colour is very dark brown, and the hair considerably 

 coarser and longer than in the common kangaroo, which 

 animal, however, it resembles exactly in shape and habits, 

 and is, in fact, a miniature kangaroo. I never met with 

 the wallaby on the mainland in these parts, but I believe 

 they are common in certain places further inland : they 

 abound, however, in the scrub on Phillip Island, in 

 "Western-port Bay. They generally keep in the thick 

 scrub, or on its edges, are easily shot in the runs, and 

 this sport much resembles roe-deer shooting at home. 

 The flesh is very good eating, and the skins worth 12s. 

 to 14s. per dozen. The wallaby is very common in Van 

 Diemen's Land, and on certain islands in the strait. 

 This is the common wallaby, the only one which ever I 

 saw wild ; but there is another species peculiar to some 

 of the high ranges inland, called the rock wallaby. This 

 is described as being a shy, solitary animal, generally 

 seen in pairs ; is rather larger than the common species, 

 and has a slightly brush tail. In habits it resembles 

 the chamois, frequenting the most inaccessible ranges, 

 and living among the rocks. It is very difficult to 

 shoot ; and this sport must be something like chamois- 

 hunting. 



