"The fox has brought his brush, and the cock has brought his comb, and the elephant has brought his trunk and the kangaroo has brought his bag, and the condor his old white wig and black satin hood."
1880. W. Senior, `Travel and Trout,' p. 8:
"To return to the marsupials. I have been assured that the kangaroos come first and eat off the grass; that the wallabies, following, grub up the roots."
1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 114:
"Sometimes a kangaroo would come down with measured thud, thud, and drink, and then return without noticing the human beings."
1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 118:
"According to the traditions of the bush—not always reliable—the name of kangaroo was given under a misconception. An aborigine being asked by one of the early discoverers the name of the animal, replied, `Kangaroo' (`I don't know'), and in this confession of ignorance or misapprehension the name originated. It seems absurd to suppose that any black hunter was really ignorant of the name of an animal which once represented the national wealth of Australians as the merino does to-day."
[The tradition is not quite so ridiculous, if the answer meant—"I don't know what you mean,—I don't understand you." See above.]
1891. `Guide Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':
"In this enclosure is a wooden model of a kangaroo of ancient times. This is copied from a restoration by Professor McCoy, who was enabled to represent it from fossil remains which have been unearthed at various places in Australia."