Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-03-21
IN KANGAROODOM,
Some Account OF the Peculiarities Of
the Australasian Speciality.

Correspondence Of the New York Times
In speaking of the peculiarities Of the Aus
tralasian fauna cannot do better than begin
with the kangaroo. He is one of the best per-
secuted of living things, is hunted with dogs.
with the shotgun and rifle, and rounded up
in great drives like those by which war is waged
upon the jack rabbits of California His hide
makes beautifully pliable leather, which is
used for boots, leggins, and countless other
articles; his flesh, too, is esteemed alike by
"blackfellows" and squatters, and the soups
and ragouts that are made from his tail might
agreeably vary the ambrosial feasts of the gods
His pelts are a regular article of commerce. are
quoted in the daily papers at as full length as
the skins of cattle and sheep, and bring large
revenue to the station owners in the back coun-
try; altogether, he is the most important object
of fer'9 ndturR in the colonies and abundantly
deserves the prominent place he occupies upon
the Australian coat-of-arms where, opposed to
the emu, he holds the position given to the lion
in his association with the unicorn in the her
aldlc crest of England
The kangaroos which appear in every we'll
equipped menagerie in the United States a
faint and feeble parody upon the animal as he
appears i'll his native bush" which, by the
ways, is a term unfortunately applied not
only to underbrush and thickets, but also to the
lordllest forests and the broadcast stretches of
PLAIN that lie between them. There are dozen
varieties of kangaroo proper, the largest of
which, even when squatted upon the launches,
are nearly seven feet in height. Besides these
are others IN the forms of wallabys which vary
IN SIZE from rabbits to creatures three or four
feet high, and even below those nature contin-
ues her joke in the production of kangaroo
ats-sharp-nosed, keen-eyed creatures, with
all the movements of the kangaroo.
The Kangaroo Is a joke, however you look at
him. He has four legs. but uses only two in
travelling, and he employs his TAIL not, as is
generally supposed, a sort of supplementary
leg upon which to alight after his long jumps,
but somewhat as Blondin utilities his balanc-
ing-pole in his perilous promenades on the
tight-rope.
The movement of the kangaroo is accom-
pllshed with his body bent well forward, his
forelegs curled up, and his tail projecting in a
graceful curve astern. At single bound he
will cover distance of thirty feet. and soar
over bushes ten feet high i'll the midst of it as
lightly as bird. His powerful hind legs seem
made of springs, which are compressed by his
weight when he strikes the ground. and imme-
dlately released to give momentum for a new
flight; his progress is without apparent break,
and resembles that of a highly-elastic rubber
Dall that Is thrown along smooth pavement.
He will outrun the fleetest horse, and only the
best kangaroo dog "a specie of greyhound es-
pecially bred for the purpose) can tire and
overtake him. The favorite way to shoot him
Is to lie in wait near his haunts, and send in
beaters and dogs to run him out.
As he comes springing over the bushes. you
let drive at him with shotguns loaded with
buckshot and if you good at ''rocketing'
pheasants, or ducks as they spring from the
water, you may bring him down. The excite
ment of this sport is great and peculiar, and
combines the shooting of large game with the
exhilaraton and uncertainty of shooting on the
wing. 1t also tests the hunters nerve. The
noise made by herd of frightened kangaroos
tearing through the underbrush is startling,
and as the beasts 90 by the sportsmans covert
with the speed of light, their killing makes no
slight demands upon alertness and presence of
mind.
Kangaroo chasing by horses and dogs is a
sport which throws English fox-huntng into
the shade, and is attended with as frequent
tumbles and broken bones as the most ardent
votary of hunting could desire. Timid inof-
fensive. and fugitive the kangaroo is when
pursued. he is a bold and dangerous beast when
wounded and brought to bay. Nature which
leaves no animal entirely defenseess. has
equipped him with weapon which is the dread
OF dogs and men alike. His powerful hind legs
terminate in feet which are set with three
strong black claws, of which the central one is
long and sharp, with the cutting surface of a
chlsel or gouge.
Woe be to the sanguine hound who seeing an
''old man" kangaroo, winded or wounded,
backed up against a tree and unable to go fur
ther, PUSHES Ill to catch him by the throat and
finish him. The hitherto useless forelegs catch
and hold him. and the terrible hind feet. play
ing up and down like the walking beam of
steamboat, tear him open and scatter his en-
trails over the ground. The like fate has some
times happened to hunters who have attacked
a wounded kangaroo with knife in order 10
save their ammunition, and gruesome stories
are extant in which some huge beast. Selling
his enemy i'll his arms has sailed off bodily
with him over brake and brier to put him to
death with unknown tortures i'll some secluded
lair. These, however, evidently legends
invented for the admiration fthe new chum,''
as the ''tenderfoot" is locally called.
The kangaroo of ancient times was monster
well worthy of association with the giant
''mOa"-that bird of Is feet stature. In the
admirable Australian museum at sydney are
the fossil remains of this mammoth marsupial,
with skull as large as that of the present ell
ephant and bones which indicate that he was
tall as telegraph pole. He fed on flesh,
this creature, and if his strength and agility
were commensurate with his size he must have
been capable of covering hundred yards at
bound. The remains of this great beast have
been discovered in considerable quantities in a
series of caves in western New South Wales
together with the skulls and bones of the Aus
tra!ian bear, who also appears as an Anak
among the present degenerate race.