240 
POUCHED MAMMALS. 
The True Kangaroos and Wallabies. 
Genus Macropus. 
In the summer of the year 1770, when Captain Cook was refitting his vessel 
at the mouth of the Endeavour River in New South Wales, a party of his crew 
who had landed to procure food brought back reports of a strange animal of large 
size, which sat upright on its hind-limbs and tail, and progressed by a series of 
enormous leaps. Excitement among those on board was naturally raised to the 
highest pitch by this account—especially as a naturalist, Sir Joseph Banks, was a 
member of the ex¬ 
pedition ;—and soon 
after a specimen of 
the animal in ques¬ 
tion was killed. This 
creature was the one 
we now know by the 
name of the great 
grey kangaroo (. Mac¬ 
ropus giganteus ); 
and was the first 
member of the family 
which came fully 
under European 
notice, although one 
of the smaller forms 
from the Aru Islands 
had been partially 
made known as early 
as the year 1711. 
The name kangaroo, 
it may be observed, 
is said to be of Australian origin, although it appears to be now unknown to the 
natives. The kangaroos and wallabies, which include the largest members of the 
family, are characterised by the great length and powerful development of the 
hind-limbs as compared with the front pair; and the enormous size of the tail, 
which is regularly tapering, and evenly covered with fur from end to end. In the 
hind-foot the claw of the fourth toe is enormously developed, and the first toe 
is wanting. The head is small, with an elongated and usually completely naked 
muzzle, and large upright ears. The females have four teats. The skull is 
characterised by its smooth and rounded contours, and the absence of any 
inflation in the bulla of the internal ear. The tusk in the upper jaw is minute, 
and shed at an early period; and the upper incisor teeth are of nearly equal 
length, and form a regular open curve. The lower incisor teeth have sharp inner 
edges capable of cutting against one another in a scissor-like manner; and the 
crowns of the molar teeth carry a pair of transverse ridges, which are nearly 
THE GREAT GREY KANGAROO, WITH YOUNG IN POUCH. 
