A Kangaroo Ifunt 



gretted ; for their keen scent, their fine 

 sense of hearing, and their extreme fleet- 

 ness, were all qualities which rendered 

 them a most attractive kind of game, 

 whether for stalking or for running with 

 the hounds. But it must be admitted 

 that, when viewed from the squatter's 

 stand-point, they were little better than 

 a noxious pest, and their extermination 

 was a consummation much to be desired. 

 In some parts of Victoria they formerly 

 outnumbered the sheep as two to one ; and 

 old shepherds have told me that it was 

 not an uncommon thing to see the sheep 

 and the kangaroos feeding together upon 

 the plains, as many as two or three thou- 

 sand kangaroos frequently accompanying 

 a flock of a thousand sheep. Thus it will 

 be seen that a " station " which, in 1850, 

 could barely graze five thousand sheep, can 

 now be made to carry forty thousand with- 

 out any danger of overstocking. Hence 

 the very natural desire of the squatters to 

 rid the country of so formidable a com- 

 petitor. 



The work of extermination was at first 

 prosecuted by means of great stockaded 

 kangaroo pens or yards, which were built 

 with a wide, funnel-shaped entrance, the 

 flanges of which extended out a mile or 



170 



