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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by Walter Burke 



GAWKY PETS IN AUSTRALIA 



On the left is an "old man" kangaroo, standing nearly seven feet high when in action. 

 The claws on his hind legs are so powerful that he can rip open an attacking dog with one 

 stroke. The animal on the ground is a female of the species. During their enforced stay 

 in a dried-up swamp one night, the aviators' camp was visited by several of these animals. 



Next morning saw us at the aero- 

 drome by daylight, and a gladsome sight 

 met our eyes. Natives were streaming 

 in from every direction bearing sheets 

 of bamboo matting — they were literally 

 carrying their houses on their backs — 

 and already a great pile of it lay by 

 the Vimy (see pages 314-317). 



At first a pathway of mats was merely 

 laid down, but in our keen anxiety to get 

 off we had overlooked the "slip-stream" 

 from the propellers. The engines were 



opened up and we were just gathering 

 speed nicely when some of the sheets 

 were whisked up and blown into the tail- 

 plane. The fabric was torn, a tire punc- 

 tured, and the Vimy ran off and bogged 

 badly. 



Once more we had to extricate the 

 wheels and reconstruct the roadway. 

 This time we pegged down and inter- 

 laced the mats. 



More matting arrived on a motor-lory, 

 so we lengthened the road, said a second 



