108 The Carnivora. 
black fellow sprang up, ran a few yards, and then fell. 
Until then I had never seen a black skin since I took the 
hut, but when least expected the enemy was upon me, He 
had managed his approach with excellent judgment, coming 
from the side where there were no sheep, which he would 
have disturbed. Here was a great blunder on my part. 
Before relaxing my vigilance I ought to have seen that 
there were sheep all round me, so that any movement on 
their part would have put me on my guard. It is needless 
to say that I gathered the flock together at once and made 
for home, avoiding the direction in which the native had 
come, as he would probably have several companions, who, 
however, would be chary of showing themselves at least, in 
open aggression, after that lesson. 
It is difficult to attribute this warning of the dog to 
any sense but that of hearing. Redolent as the Australian 
native is when you are to leeward of him, in that hot, dry, 
still, mid-day air he would give out little scent likely to 
reach the nose of the dog. Sight is out of the question 
altogether. The native’s method of stalking—and no savage 
in the world excels him in this—never permits him to be 
seen. Wherever there is grass enough to hide him at all 
he crawls along with his spear grasped firmly between 
the great toe and the next, and his “nullah-nullah” or 
club in his hand. Reaching a tree he stands up to rest 
and pick the ground for a further advance. Should you 
happen to look straight at that tree, round which one- 
half of his face is showing, it will present the appearance 
only of a knob on the trunk, and will not attract notice, 
and there it will remain motionless as long as you look. 
Thus warily moving, the native is able to stalk even right 
into the midst of a mob of kangaroos, whose first inti- 
mation of his presence is the fall of one of their number 
to his spear or club. Stalking a drowsy shepherd is ob- 
viously a far easier task, unless he is protected, as in that 
instance I fortunately was, by the vigilance of a dog whose 
