FLESH FOOD FEOM MAMMALS. 71 



they dropped in at the camp empty-handed, how care- 

 fully they would examine the large flooded gum-trees 

 fringing the river banks, how nimbly they would get a 

 footing upon some' hollow limb, and with what perse- 

 verance ' Possum ' was dislodged and perhaps accidentally 

 dropped into the river, whence it had to be rescued by 

 the black fellow's better-half ; for it was the question of 

 ' to eat or not to eat.' " 



The flesh of that most malodorous marsupial, the com- 

 mon opossum {Didelphys Virginiand) is eaten in some of 

 the States of North America, and is said to be white and 

 well tasted. 



In Rio Grande do Sul and other provinces of Brazil, 

 they bury it in the earth until the flesh is free from its 

 characteristic ofiensive smell ; before cooking, the axil- 

 lary glands must first be extracted. 



An American named Chancey has lately started a 

 novel business at Hawkinsville, near Savannah, for 

 raising opossums on a farm enclosed with wire fencing. 

 As the average piney wood opossum finds a ready sale 

 at about 2s., a fine fat stall-fed opossum will bring double 

 that amount. 



The flesh of the Australian bandicoot {Perameks 

 obesula) is delicious, especially when done in the native 

 style, that is, the hair removed and the game roasted 

 upon the coals. The native tiger cat {Basyurus Geof- 

 froyi), the most bloodthirsty of the marsupial animals of 

 Australia, is eaten by the natives. 



Kangaroos. — The flesh of all the herbivorous marsupials 

 is good. The f orequarters indeed of the larger kangaroos 

 are somewhat inferior, and are usually given to the dogs ; 

 but from the hinder quarters some fine steaks may be 

 cut. These cooked in the same manner as venison col- 

 lops, are, to- most palates, very little inferior to the latter. 

 The flesh of the large kangaroo, as well as that of the 

 wallaby, is often dressed in the shape of a hash, and in 

 this form also it is excellent. But the most admired part 

 of the kangaroo is his tail. This is of enormous size in 

 proportion to the rest of the body, the tail of a full- 



