Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-02
HUNTING fAE~ KANGAROO
Native Australians View Him as an Outlaw
Among Animals.
According to ond WA tier the Bu.hmen
Train Him0o Steal Cattle
and children.
From the New York Sun.


dramatic muse. and somewhat successfully.
Then, metaphorically speaking. 1 piped on
oaten straw. like the Arcadian shepherd, and
dropped money in WOOL Then delved in
the mines for the dross of gold, and didn't
find any. At last l made a fortunate strike
in tallow, and for a time reveled in the
charms Of nature and learned to hunt the
kangaroo. I learned a good many things
about kangaroos that are not in the books
for instance that the bushmen trained kan
garoos to be horse and cattle thieves, kid
napers, highway robbers and the like l
say learned that. but perhaps 1 had bet
ter say that the good people l met during
my career as a gentleman sportsman in
Australia told me such was the case. l
never had any ocular proof that there were
kangaroo cattls thieves or kangaroo high
way robbers. but shall believe in Kangaroo
horse thieves and kidnaperS until my dying
day. I'll tell you why.
While 1 was living this life of a gentle
man sportsman l was quartered at a little
settlement at Boort Run, right in the kan
CARGO country. To hunt kangaroo seems
almost like going out to run down and maui
the life out few of your decent relatives,
but the kangaroo hunt was the chief recre-
alton Of the gentlemen sportsmen in Aus
t t.aila the time l was there. and as 1 had
become member Of that order of citizens,
after making my pile in tallow, l. of course
mad to hunt kangaroos.
You hunt kangaroos on horseback and
you have to sit on your horse like a star
circus rider, too. or you will never hunt
kangaroos more than once. You are apt
to be lassoed out of your saddle and left
hanging by your neck at the end of some
dropping vine as you pass through the
country, and If you keep your seat as your
horse dashes over a stretch of ground,
made picturesquely irregular by a million
Dig ant hills. you stand a chance Of being
tipped out OF 1t into an adjoining tract Of
down timber and treated to a run across
country with your foot in the stirrup and
your head playing shiny with logs and
bowlers. Then. when you get into a mob
OF kangaroos-half a dozen or so hangs
together make a nob-you may have the
luck to tackle what they call regular up
and-up boomer. and II you do-well say
If you do. you will begin to have your
doubts about your caring to be gentle
man sportsman in Australia. An up-and-ur
boomer, or bloomin' old man. as some
call him. Is leader in a mob of hangs
and there's more fight In him than there Is
bloomin' old man gets the squeeze on you
and Is inclined to stop the fight right there
and then he'll put on the pressure and
crack your bones as you would crush
soft-shell almond.
1t isn't sportsmanlike to bag your kan
CARGO with a gun. Your weapon is a short
but heavy club and a. you charge your
game the object is to deliver a blow with
roo's neck Dogs trained for the purpose
harass the game and get it in position so
that you can the better and surer deliver
the death blow. 1t requires a good deal of
skill and dexteritysto strike the right spot
and at the same time guard yourself against
the assaults Of the Kangaroo. for he has
his eye on the chance of getting in blow
on you that may send you sprawling from
your horse. ~
Il got so that 1 could handle the club
and the horse pretty we'll a kangaroo
hunt. and rather liked the exciting sport
until one day ran foul of kang that was
following a life of outlawry, and that
spoiled me for kangarooing. We had five
dogs and ran suddenly into mob Of seven
kangaroos. The leader Of the mob was the
up-and-upest boomer, the bloomin'est old
man had ever seen, except a tame kanga
roo that belonged at the settlement, and
that tame kangaroo, beat anything. they
said. that had ever been seen in Australia.
1t was taken when only a few days Old
and grew to enormous size and had the run
Of the settlement, and the whole country.
for that matter. Everybody knew Danny
Dee the big tame kang was called, and
Danny seemed to know everybody and
everything.
When [ saw the big leader of this mob
rise before me I couldn't help but think
that he might be Danny Dee's brother. He
rose to receive the attack of three of our
dogs, and he stood not less than eight feet
high. He gathered in each one of those
three dogs as they sprang at him and laid
them down in one, two, three order, with
cut a whole bone among them. This
bloomin' old man seemed not only willing,
but anxious to join in general fight with
us. One of our party killed his kangaroo.
but all the rest OF the mob except the
boomer fled to the bush. There were three
of us hunters, and we all charged upon the
boomer, the two rem aiming dogs having
followed the fleeing mob. l can't tell you
how 1t was done, but that big kangaroo
yanked my two companions out Of their
Sad 40 q fla
frightened horses went over the plain.
Their unseated riders followed them, and
I was left alone to have it out with the
bloomin' old man.
Say, he didn't wait to take breath. but
leaped on me and grabbed me round the
waist before l could play my club, but he
hadn't got his squeeze on me when l
brought my club down on his head. That
staggered him and forced him to loosen his
hold on me and tumble from the horse, but
he took with him half of one trousers leg
and big chunk Of skin from my thigh
He had no sooner struck the ground than
he sprang and caught the horse around the
neck and was effectively shutting off the
poor beasts wind when l pounded the
kang loose with my club. 1t seemed to me
that old boomer was just more than en-
joying the fight. and 1t struck me that he
had an object in all he was doing beyond
the simple fact Of wanting to win the
fight.
Failing in his attempt tc choke the horse
to death, he drew off few PAGES. looked
me and the horse over, and at once made
UP his mind. He came toward me with
tremendous bound, and as raised my club
to meet him with a blow he tented and
landed on the horse behind me. Before 1
could move muscle he had my arms
pinioned to my sides as II they were in
wise I suppose. from the way the horse
sprang forward, that the kang stuck his
claws in the horses TANKS. At any rate,
away over the plain we went like the wind,
headed for the bush. At first I struggled
to free myself, but found that the more
struggled the tighter grew the clasp Of
the kangaroo on my ribs until was afraid
he would squeeze the life out OF me II
didn't quit, so quit.
ION we went. deeper and deeper into the
dense bush and fuDtherJ away from succor
at every bound. Them struck me all at
once that I was in the clutch OF a kid
naper kangaroo, the trained agent Of some
savage tribe Of bushmen, although UP to
that moment had rather doubted what
had been told me as TOT the way bushmen
induced kangaroos to become outlaws in
various lines. With this prospect before
me 1 made up my mindd might as well be
killed trying to free myself from the kan
CARGO as to wait ;nntike the bushmen fell
foul of me, and began to struggle more
desperately than ever and shout loudly
for help. althoughsI hadn't the least idea
there was any suoh thing as help within
ten miles. In
when began to struggle the boomer
began to squeeze. and AZ / kept on strug-
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