The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-08
HUNTING THE KANGAROO.
Not without Considerable Danger to
the Sportsman.

George n. Walsh, in Scientific American.
Twenty and thirty years ago visitor to
Australia could see more kangaroos to the
square mile than there are jack rabbits
to-day, and it was literally impossible to
avoid the countless hocks that swarmed
over the whole island. With a good iifie
he could take a position on a rock and
shoot all day long until tired of the mo-
notony of slaughter, or until some odd
man kangaroo became desperate at his
killing and decided to turn the tables up
on his, In those days men were paid no
orally by the sheep owners to Kill OF the
kangaroos, and it is reported that one
hunter would kill several hundred day,
and one man is known to have cleared
$4,500 free of living expenses in single
year.
The visitor to Australia to-day discov-
ers a decided change in many ways, Tut
not more so than in the comparative
scarcity of the kangaroo. lie may reside
on the island for a month or two and not
get sight of one of these queer-looking an
| imals. He is similarly disappointed as
the visitor to Florida who expects to see
alligators and ydiamond-back rattlesnakeS
crawling about every marsh ana lagoon
making life actually dangerous and tear
full. The conditions which the pioneers
in both places met and overcome no long
er exist, and both Florida and Australia
are SO built up and civilized tha nat tnf t us
hunter and HE himself to the desolate
backwoods, far away from all towns ana ana
railroads. Il lie WOuiu llllu SaAAS W. HS
There are kangaroos in Australia in
numbers sufficient to satisfy the most eA,
acting, but they must be hunted up ana
their fayorite feeding places be located
by good guides. The sheep-herders cauS-
ed the creatures to be destroyed IN such
numbers before they became OF any COM
mercial value that they are now rarely
found outside of the bush. In some OF
the private parks and large estates a lew
semi-wild kangaroos are kept, out they
are protected so closely by laws that no
one ventures to disturb them.
About 300 miles back from the coass'
thousands of kangarooS can be found. a
trip of $50 miles back from Melbourne VIII
take the hunter into section OF the wiz
country where. good sport can pc eh l;,ol
The country abounds in struggling bushes,
with very few tall tree or woods to OBJ
struct the travel; but the bushes, Whlle
in the open country are f Fan Sno T9srsn ~
pials. They feed on the grass, roots ana
! leaves and when startled by hunter leap
over the bushes as easily as rapot
Jumps over the tufts OF grass.
We left Sydney one bright afternoon
with a party of four hunters ana Two
! guides, and started for the interior 10 Try
q week al hunting in the Australian
bush" Hunting small and large game IN
| the various states of the +unlon ana Cail-
| ada had brought its pleasure in times past,
but the novelty of hunting kangaroo in
| their native "bush" excited more tcellngS
| of pleasure and anticipation than we had
| felt for many years. We anticipated NJ
! tie danger, although our guides assured
| MS that the element OF danger was al
/ ways present in shooting these WHO G[ea-
/ tures We were armed with good rifles,
/ hunting knives, horses, two good kahga-
I roo dogs and the various Announcements
necessary for any good huIl rIie uUs3
/ They were much stronger ana fousher III
! appearance than the ordinary greyhounq,
| hut they were equally as Meet ana capaple
! Of running down a kangaroo in the open.
! They were powerful and fierce enough TO
| attack the largest kangaroo, although the
results of the battle were not always IN
A'' Thus equipped for our journey we took
| the railroad as far inland as we could, ana
/ then started across country on norseDdck.
| The land was wild and rugged. oVerrun
! with strange plants and tree CROWNS lnas
attracted our Afternoon pg tneIr 1e@u,S so,,u
| heads and kissing serpents disputed our
| DassageWay. Our guides, knowing lhe
harmlessness of these reptllesI ei1ner pass.
| ed them without notice or mt them over
| The head with their strong riding WHIPS
AS we proceeded inland the country pc
| 1ate Phe foot of man seemed never to
| have traversed these lonely lands our
| first sight of kangaroo was maze on
| the second day out. While eating luncn
| in a ouiet part of the country, the "Dush
around suddenly seemed TO become awe
/ with animals. The heads OF some strange
4 creatures bobbed up above the Dushes on
/ every side and peculiar tapping noise on
! the turf alarmed us. We were on our rect
INSTANTLY with rifles in hand, prepared 10
~ front IF ms succession of kangaroos
passed crossing narrow opening SO that
We could secure a good glimpse Of them.
! orr guides hastily raised their rifles and
1 shot but the rest of us We're too disap-
| pointed to do anything These diminuuve
/ creatures, scarcely three feet hlgn, the "a
mons Australian Kangaroo Why, we eN-
/ nected to see animal seven, eight ana
POSSIBLY ten feet high. and TO have our
| hopes dashed to the ground in this way
! completely demoralized our hunting ma.
ture Both natural history writer's AMI
| hunters must have willfully lied when
thew described the kangaroo, or else cur
lamentations had stretched the dimensions
to an unwonted degree.
We were considerably treasured, how
ever, a few moments later, when our
guides brought in two OF the DEAD crea7
lures. remarkiingf; .l Hdey n' !" soo'
''Paddymelon Aren't they Kangaroo
we gasped in unison.
cali EN- that; but they're only paddymelon.
| We've run across a flock of EN-, an you
can get some good shots at EN-.
This was our first lesson in Australian
natural history and our guides gave us
further valuable INSTRUCTION before the day
was over. .,it,,, ,h,. a,..
ture kangaroo" one of them said to-
ward dusk as he suddenly hit something
on the ground with his whip and then pick
ed il up The creature that he had knock
ed over was not more than few inches
long. but he was an exact imitation OF ali
pictures we had ever seen Of fqll-grown
u
and tail the peculiar head and ears, the
pouch for carrying the young In front,
and the dwarfed front paws were all there
! Marnified about twentyfod. and a perfect
] Kangaroo would be produced.
mo, that amt nothin' but Kangaroo
/ house. and he amt what were hunting
/ after no more than tho paddymclon.
! IL may be of Importance TO mention just
here that the kangaroo and the kangaroo
mouse represent the two extreme types
| OF Australa's strange animals. Between
I these two extremes there are many other
/ animals with the same essential features
/ and apparently differentating from each
/ other only by their size. The kangaroo Is
/ the largest of the whole Class. and next 10
| him comes the wallaroo. then the wa.laby
/ then the paddymolon. specimen Of which
/ We had before us. the kangaroo rat and
/ the kangaroo mouse. The bush wallabios
! and paddymeons furnish more general
| sport 10 the hunters than the kangaroosH
! for they are more plentiful and not so
! timid They move about the bush with
] great agility. and resemble shadows more
/ than animals fitting around. II Is a true
/ test OF ones skill TO bring them down. Dur
GeE AW HAIR RESTuREDg YOUTHFUL
49,.