212 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



admit of any new digging, and the unfortunate animals are com- 

 pelled to seek a very unsafe shelter in the grass. Flushed from 

 its place of hiding, and being a poor runner, the " Jalva" is 

 easily overtaken by the native and his dogs, large numbers being 

 often killed in a short time. 



One young is born at a time, and the breeding goes on con- 

 tinuously all the year round. 



Macropus robustus. Male, "Tjikurr"; female, "Tjugeri." 

 The large black " Wallaroo " of South-eastern Australia was 

 observed only in the sandstone ranges of the central table-land 

 in Arnhem Land. In the wild and broken cliffs or precipices 

 surrounding the large gullies where the South Alligator river 

 flows, and a white man has seldom before wandered, a scanty 

 tribe of the Robust Kangaroo was struggling for life against the 

 steady onslaught of the aboriginal hunter of these lonely moun- 

 tain valleys. Not long ago, my dark companions affirmed, the 

 "Tjikurr" abounded; but constant hunting had reduced their 

 number to a minimum. The frequent occurrence of old excre- 

 ments and well-worn paths amongst the rocks amply corroborated 

 the statements of the natives ; only now and then a specimen 

 could be seen, and a female with a young one in its pouch was 

 all I obtained (June, 1895). 



In the shade of some overhanging rock, in cracks and 

 crevices, and even in the deep dark caves and caverns in the 

 precipices of the table-land, honeycombed by the work of the 

 ocean thousands of years ago, the " Tjikurr" was sleeping during 

 the hot tropical day. The least noise would disturb it. Even 

 the light patter of the naked feet of the aborigine would start 

 the wary sleepers, and cause the black animals to flee with huge 

 bounds through the broken rocky country. Their speed and 

 agility is all the more surprising owing to the considerable size 

 of the animals, and can only be compared to that of the little 

 Petrogale concinna. They literally seem to fly through and over 

 the most difficult obstacles. Without hesitation they would 

 precipitate themselves down cliffs of considerable height, and 

 with equally astonishing energy they would rapidly ascend appa- 

 rently inaccessible mountain walls and heaps of boulders. 



