Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1880-04-21
Kangaroo Hunting.

means OF locomotion and defense are so Pc
culiar, ald its swiftness so great, that the
chase Of it is attended with excitement and
dangers wholly unique The hunting of the
fox in England is ever comparatively smooth
ground and moderate-sized fences, with
well trained horses, while the kangaroo has
TO be chased over new country, full of holes
covered with wild grass over bitches, fallen
trees, among trees, and their branches, on
horses that have no superiors in the world
in speed. Then the dangers that you are
to encounter when you oSertake the kan
garoo, though not in reality extreme, are
rs great as those met in the tiger hunt as
usually conducted, while in the latter you
have not the excitement and danger of the
chase. The place where l write is about
200 miles from the ocean shore, on the
banks OF beautiful river, shaded with en-
calyp.us trees. These trees are the natural
growth of the country, cover large part of
it, and are believed, both here and in Eu-
rope, to so destroy malaria as to be sure
guarantee against fevers of all kinds. The
couches are examined before retiring at
night to see if there are any snakes in them;
but none are found: a native, with two
women, is camped on the shore near by.
Their camp is half-eircle of piled-us logs,
three feet high, while on the open side, to-
wards the water glares a brilliant fire,
lighting up them and the darkness with
lurid, fantastic sayageness. These natives
resemble the African more nearly than
either of the other tour of the human races,
and come without doubt from that stock.
Their hair cannot be strictly said to be
either hair or wool, but most nearly resem-
bles the latter. They are of good size,
dark brown, well made, and don't encum-
Der themselves with much clothing. One
of their weapons Of war is the boomerang,
and it is a curious affair 1t is made of
very hard wood, three feel long, four inches
wide, one inch thick at the centre, and
bends edgeways so as 10 make a third of a
circle. With the hand they are SAID TO
throw this implement $50 yards, cutting of
the head of an enemy, and having the
weapon return 10 the feet of the sender. l
have seen il thrown that distance and re-
turn to the person throwing 1t. The full
grown male kangaroo is called ''boomer,"
and Is abou; seven and half feet long from
his nose to the end of his tail, the tail be-
ing about three and half feet Of this, and
one foot in diameter at Its base. lie lives
on grass, sometimes invading the fields of
the froniiersman and eating up all he has.
He stands on four legs when feeding, and
at no other time His tail is full of power
ful sinews, but it is used only to assist in
the equilibrium while sitting, standing On
| the toes and running. In q sitting posture
he is about four and half feet high; but
when he stands on his toes TO survey the
country or an enemy, he is taller than n
man. He has soft, gaZelle-like expres-
sion, but the white teeth CLEAN between
the lips. His color is brown. tending in
age towards red or grey, according to the
species They weigh (tbe malel from 100
TO 10 pounds each. The meat tastes
somewhat like veuison, but is not very
good. though the tail makes excellent soup.
The female is under six feet in length, and
I is different somewhat IN appearance from
I the male. The young, when born, are
only an inch long, and are first seen nurs-
ing the mother in the pouch in front, where
she carries them. They remain in this
pouch till they are eight months old and
weigh about ten pounds, and long after
wards return to i; on appearance OF danger.
When the mother is hard pressed by the
enemy in chase she throws the young one
out of the pouch, who thereby makes its es-
cane There are kangaroo dogs, very swift
and strong, especially adapted 10 hunting
the kangaroo; but no experienced dog will
tackle them without somebody to back
him. They jump about fifteen feet at a
time usually, but sometimes twenty or more,
and their swiftness is prodigious. Nothing
can apparently overtake them in a fair
race, and the usual way is to practically
surround them. When hard pressed they
place their back to tree for the fight; or,
in preference, they always strike for the
water If there Is any near. They try to
seize their enemy with the fore paws, and
then rip it from top to bottom with the
middle claws Of their hind feet, which art
very sharp. II they are in the water they
try to hold their enemy under it until he Il
drowned They will always leave dog
to attack man.
At 9 o'clock one morning ten men, in
cluding myself, started on horseback, with
four dogs, on chase. All were eyperi
enced in the business except young Eng
lishman and myself. We took no firearms
large stick being the only weapon to b
used. We had difficulty In finding th'
animals. 1t was disdained to avoid sucl