4 



LECTURE III. 91 



entirely herbivorous, and in reality should not be 

 placed in the order Ferae. It is unnecessary to 

 observe that the Kangaroo is one of the most 

 elegant as well as curious animals discovered in 

 modern times. The first discovery of this extra- 

 ordinary quadruped, which had till then remained 

 concealed as it were in a corner of the world, was 

 in the year 1770, on that part of the coast of New- 

 Holland which is now called New South Wales. 

 The general size of the Kangaroo when full grown, 

 is at least equal to a full grown sheep : the upper 

 parts are small while the lower are remarkably 

 large in proportion: yet such is the elegance of 

 gradation in this respect, that the Kangaroo may 

 be justly considered as one of the most picturesque 

 of quadrupeds: the fore legs are extremely short, 

 with the feet divided into five toes, each furnished 

 with a sharp and somewhat crooked claw: the 

 thighs and hind-legs are extremely stout and long; 

 and the feet are so constructed as to appear, at first 

 sight, composed of but three toes, of which the 

 middle is by far the largest, and is furnished with 

 a claw of vast strength; and what a^jpears on a 

 cursory view, to be the inner toe, will be found, 

 on a near inspection, to consist of two small toes. 



