A Kangaroo Hunt 



dashed out against an overhanging limb, 

 or his legs crushed against the trunk of a 

 tree. Sometimes, too, the mild and gen- 

 tle kangaroo himself becomes a serious 

 source of danger ; for an " old man," when 

 winded and brought to bay, frequently 

 proves himself a most redoubtable enemy. 

 When thus cornered, he will generally turn 

 fiercely upon his pursuers; and as the dogs 

 attack him, he will lift them one by one in 

 his arms, and disembowel them with a sin- 

 gle downward stroke of his sharp and pow- 

 erful hind hoof. When his only aggressor 

 happens to be a man, he has been known 

 to leap upon the horse's haunches, seize 

 the rider about the neck from behind, and 

 drag him from his seat ; and then woe 

 betide the unfortunate wretch, for his 

 chances are small indeed. In certain parts 

 of Queensland and northern Australia this 

 wild style of kangaroo- hunting is still in- 

 dulged in by the rough-riders of the " back 

 blocks ; " but the day is past in Victoria 

 when that or any other systematic method 

 of extermination is necessary ; and the day 

 has not yet come for that leisured class of 

 ardent sportsmen who will one day pre- 

 serve the kangaroo for hunting purposes, 

 as the deer and the wild boar are to-day 

 preserved in the state forests of France and 

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