A Kangaroo Hunt 



tremendous leisurely hops, holding her 

 fore-paws before her in a mincing way 

 that was very comical. The smaller ani- 

 mals — each an exact, though diminutive, 

 counterpart of the leader — followed in 

 gradually diminishing perspective, every 

 little beggar hopping just a little more 

 rapidly than the one before him, until the 

 fast-flying legs of the last puny fellow at 

 the end of the line were blurred like the 

 spokes of a wheel in rapid motion. The 

 effect of this extraordinary procession was, 

 to my unaccustomed eyes, so altogether 

 ludicrous and absurd, that I nearly lost my 

 shot in an uncontrollable burst of laugh- 

 ter. As it was, I might just as well have 

 had my laugh out to the end ; for although 

 I let the old doe have both barrels full 

 in the flank as she passed me at twenty 

 yards' distance, she never even faltered in 

 her course, and had quite disappeared in 

 the scrub, with all her numerous progeny 

 at her heels, before I had time to replace 

 the empty cartridges. The No. 3 shot, in 

 all probability, had little more effect upon 

 her tough hide than so many grains of 

 sand. Nevertheless, it might perhaps have 

 brought her down if I had aimed at the 

 head, for one pellet penetrating the brain 

 through the eye would have been suffi- 



192 



