
$4 AUSTRALIAN ZooLoGy. 
measure filled the hole it had made. The kangaroo Wa8 first seet 
by a party sent out to procure food for the sick. ‘* On Friday, June 
22nd,” says Captain Cook, ‘‘a party who were engaged in shooting 
pigeons for the sick of the ship saw an animal which they described 
to be as large as a greyhound, of a slender make, of a mouse colour 
and extremely swift.” Referring to the next day, Cook adds :— 
““This day almost everybody saw the animal which the pigeon- 
shooters had brought an account of the day before.” On the follow- 
ing day Cook himseif had the pleasure of beholding this extraordinary 
animal. He speaks of it thus: ‘* As I was walking this morning at 
a little distance from the ship, I saw myself one of the animals 
which had been so often described. It was of a light mouse colour, 
and in size and shape very muchresembling agreyhound; it hada long 
tail also, which it carried like a greyhound, and I should have taken 
it for a wild dog, if instead of running. it had not leapt like a hare or 
deer ; its legs were said to be very slender, and the print of its foot to 
be like that of a goat, but where I saw it the grass was so high that 
the legs were concealed, and the ground was too hard to receive the 
track. Mr. Banks (afterwards Sir Joseph) had an imperfect view 
of this animal, and was of opinion that its species was hitherto un- 
known.” On July 14th Mr. Gore, who went out with his gun, had 
the good fortune to kill one of the animals which had been so much 
the subject of speculation. This was the first specimen obtained by 
Europeans, and from it, in all probability, the notes were made and 
the figure drawn, which were published in Dr. Hawkesworth’s 
account of the voyage, London, 1773. On July 17th Mr. Banks, 
accompanied by a small party, went out at dawn of day in quest of 
discoveries in natural history, and in a walk of many miles, at 
length saw four of these animals, two of which were chased by his 
greyhound, but readily outstripped their pursuer, and threw him out 
at a great distance by leaping over the long grass, which prevented 
the dog from running to advantage. All that could then be dis- 
tinctly observed was that the animal in some degree resembled the 
Jerboa, in its manner of springing forwards on the hind legs instead 
of running in the manner of other quadrupeds. On July 27th Mr. 
Gore shot another kangaroo, these animals and turtles (captured in 
the harbour), which Cook named Endeavor River, supplied the 
circumnavigators with fresh food. 
Description.—-All the fur on the upper surface is uniform 
greyish-brown above, passing into grisly-grey on the arm and under 
surface. There is a faint line of greyish-white above the upper lip 
and along the sides of the face. A slight variation is found to exist 
in specimens from different localities, some being much darker and 
others of a foxy-red. The hands, feet and tip of the tail are black. 
An extraordinary difference is observable in the size of the sexes of 
‘this species, the female being not more than half the size of the 
male. The length of the male, from the nose to the extremity of the 
tail, is about 7 ft. 10 in., of the female, 5 ft. 11 in. 
Habits.—Strictly speaking, it is not a gregarious animal. Some- 
times six or eight may be seen together, but it is more frequently 

