312 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 
Between them they beat off and killed the kangaroo. and dragged Pat to land in a half- 
drowned and almost insensible condition. Pat recovered, and vowed “niver to meddle with 
such big bastes” again. 
The doe kangaroos, while of smaller size and possessing much less staying power than 
their mates, can nevertheless afford a good run for horses and dogs, and are commonly known 
as “flyers.” When carrying a youngster, or ‘‘ Joey,” in her pouch, and hard pressed by the 
dogs, it is a common thing for the parent to abstract her offspring from the pouch with her 
fore paws, and to throw it aside into the bush. The instinct of self-preservation only, by 
the discharge of hampering impedimenta, is usually ascribed to this act; but it is an open 
question whether the maternal one of securing a chance of escape for her young, while feeling 
powerless to accomplish it for herself, does not more often represent the actual condition of 
the case. 
In proportion to the size of its body the kangaroo yields but a limited amount of meat 
that is esteemed for food. The tail represents the most highly appreciated portion, since from 
it can be compounded a soup not only equal to ordinary ox-tail, but by gourmands considered 
so superior that its conservation and export 
have proved a successful trade enterprise. 
The loins also are much esteemed for the 
table, but the hind limbs are hard and coarse, 
and only appreciated by the native when 
rations are abnormally short. ‘ Steamer,” 
composed of kangaroo-flesh mixed with slices 
of ham, represented a standing and very 
popular dish with the earlier Australian 
settlers; but with the rapid disappearance of 
the animal before the advance of colonisation 
this one time common concoction possesses 
at the present day a greater traditional than 
actual reputation. 
The hunting of the kangaroo is con- 
ducted on several distinct lines, the method 
of its pursuit being varied, according to 
whether the animal is required for the 
Photo by. DsLe Souep’ [Melbourne primary object of food, for the commercial 
ALBINO RED-BELLIED WALLABY value of its skin, as a matter of pure 
Many of the Marsupials, including Kangaroos and the Opposum-like 
Phalangers, exhibit a tendency to albinism 
sport, or to accomplish its wholesale destruc- 
tion in consequence of its encroachments on 
the pasturage required for sheep- and cattle-grazing. 
The greatest measure of healthy excitement in hunting the kangaroo, from the standpoint 
f pure sport, is no doubt to be obtained when running the marsupial down with horse and 
hounds in congenial company, as referred to on a previous page. The stalking of the animal 
single-handed on horseback or on foot, much after the manner of the deer, has also its 
enthusiastic votaries, and calls into play the greatest amount of patience and savoir-faire on 
the part of the sportsman It has been affirmed by a Queensland writer, “To kill kangaroos 
with a stalking-horse requires the practice of a lifetime, and few ‘new chums’ have the 
patience to learnit. It is, in fact, only stockmen, black-fellows, and natives of the bush who 
can by this method expect to make kangaroo-shooting pay.” The horse which is successfully 
employed by experienced bushmen for stalking purposes is specially trained to its work, and, 
walking apparently unconcernedly in the direction of the selected quarry, brings the gunners, 
if they are experts in the art of keeping themselves well concealed, within easy range. In 
this manner two or three kangaroos are not infrequently shot in the same stalk, the animals 
having a tendency, on hearing the report of the gun, but not locating the direction from which 
