The Portland daily press., 1898-04-02
A KANGAROO ROUND Up.
A Sport Which No Country but Aus
traIia Knows.
THE STORY OF A PARTICIPANTS
EXPERIENCES.


Worth a Dollar Apiece and Hides Have
yaIue-Scorss of Hunters Surround and
Close in on the Game-Lively Scenes at
the Finish.
Mr. r. Won Lenedenfeld, who has been
travelling in Australia, has recently Civ
en- an account in his "Austral1sche
REESE of the novel sport of kangaroo
driving, which brings both diversion and
profit to many Nimrods on that continent
The government of New South Wales
pays bounty of 81 for every giant kan
garoo killed. The purposes, if not to ex-
terminate them, to drive them into the
wilderness>-ss way from the ranges where
the millions 81 sheep Craze, for the enor-
nous quantity of grass the kangaFoos
eat is needed for the sheep, especially
in dry seasons, when there Is scans Tod
der for the focks. So the government
pays a bounty, and, as the kangaroo s
hide is valuable, it pays to take part In
kangaroo drives.
The result of this warfare isl tnat the
animal has entirely Disappeared rom the
only further inland. The kangaroo liKes
flat or slightly hilly lands, is not found
among the mountains, and it is among
the undulating thickly wooded districts
of New South Wales that the kangaroo
drive is most successful. Mr.. Won Len
denfeld says that the kangaroo we see in
the menageries is only a caricature of the
animal as he is exists in the freedom
of his native forests.
The drive is great roundup in which
many men take part, and from 40 to 200
animals are killed. Here is the writer's
description of the drive in which he par
tioipated:
''There were fifUy-six mounted hNnters,
and on the morning Of the hunt we were
stationed at intervals on the ciroumfer-
ence of circle whose diameter was about
twenty miles. We were all to move for
ward toward Johns Fall, fat treeless
valley in the center of this circle, in the
middle of which is lake surrounded by
bushes. We were to drive the kangaroos
toward this centre, which was about ten
miles distant from the starting point of
all the hunters, and we were to be
gathered around the valley at p. M.
There were two men and guide with
me, and all the parties had dogs to help
them drive the kangaroos forward.
"Our party advanced for about two
hours, when we discovered some kanga-
roos on hill. The animals stood erect
like human beings, on their hind legs.
They often bent their heads to the
ground, resting on their little forelegs
and then lifted their heads, with mouths
full of grass SO as to chew it more COM
fortably. As soon a the guide saw the
| kangaoors he gave call which the dogs
understood, and they came instantly and
remained with us. The call did not at
tract the attention of the kangaroos, and
they continued to eat grass. My guide
kangaroos and chase them forw ard
They did not have the slightest suspicion
of our presence, but played. rubbed one
another's backs. and kept on feeding.
Suddenly the wild dogs, or dingoes, in
the neighborhood set up howl which
| ton we wished them to go.
"By dinner time we came to pool of
water only four or five miles from the
rendezvous, and here we took rest for
| an hour and half. The horses were un
| saduled and we prepared tea and dined
While lying in the shade enjoying our
rest we suddenly saw some kangaroos
Johns Fall. They were scared and evi.
IDENTIFY running away from some other
hunters We sprang to our feet, shouted
and waved our hats In order to Brighten
the animals back, but they paid no atten-
| ton to US, came on like the wind, and it
was evident that many of them would es-
cape past us. They leaped through the
air. and no sooner had they come to the
ground with a thud than their powerful
| hind legs gave them another mighty pro-
| DuIsion forward, their heavy tails helping
| them to steer clear of the trees and other
distractions.
| g sThey are too knowing for us, said
one of the men, but L think we'll stop
| a couple of them, and with these words
a shot rang out and one of the kangaroos
| fell. an old male, and the leader of the
herd. MY comrades had repeating guns,
and began firing on the fleeing animals,
which, however, kept on their way. l
| also fired two shots. The dogs followed
the animals that were wounded. Ono OF
|
dead kangaroos, and came back after a
while with five scalps; for scalps and ears
must be delivered to the government in
| order to get the reward. We had no time
| to get the hides, and we could hardly ex-
pect to secure them later, for the carcasses
were certain to be devoured by wild dogs.
Sat /. 80 p. IN. we continued our ride,
occasionally hearing in the distance sin
gle shots or rapid firing from repeating
guns. The kangaroos wers getting more
numerous, coming right from the battue
and trying to break past us. Some OF
them were chased back, but many got
away. Perhaps they had experienced
suoh hunts before and knew how to avoid
the danger that would bring them to the
roundup
''We fired frequently and got in all
seventeen scalps during our advance. In
this particular we We're luckier than
other parties, for most of the kangaroos
that tried to escape ran toward us.
"About 8 p. IN. we came in sight OF
the thicket, which was the principal
point of the roundup, and fell in with
another party coming from the left. We
now numbered six, and we ranged in
line, with about 300 feet space between
the men, and rode on. The shooting all
| ,rirota 10