EVENING AT HOME ON THE NORTH COAST.
"In former times, when the only human inhabitants of Australia were the savage blacks, the kangaroo was kept from increasing too rapidly, through the combined efforts of the dingoes and the natives. The dingo is the Australian wild dog, and closely allied to the wolf and jackal, of which he is certainly the first-cousin. He is carnivorous, and fond of sheep, and was therefore poisoned and otherwise killed off by the settlers, to prevent his depredations upon the flocks. A bounty was placed on his scalp, and he has been greatly reduced in numbers. The natives have likewise died off since the settlement of the country; and with their natural enemies removed, the kangaroos, which live wholly on grass, have increased till they have become a nuisance. A kangaroo eats as much as a sheep, and when a drove is undisturbed its numbers multiply with a rapidity that dismays the squatter on whose land it has made its home.
DINGOES, OR AUSTRALIAN WILD DOGS.
"Our host gave us the foregoing information while we were riding to the place where we were to enjoy the sensation of hunting the kangaroo. He furthermore told us that it was no uncommon thing for them to kill several hundred kangaroos in a single drive, but it could not be called sport. He said a drive wasn't a hunt, and I asked him to explain the difference, which he did.
"The necessity of killing off the kangaroos to prevent their utter destruction of all the grass in the country was forced upon the settlers by the rapid increase of the animals. The Government passed a law giving a bounty for the scalps of kangaroos; and none too soon, as in some parts of the country the droves fairly blackened the plains for many miles, and literally starved the sheep out of the country. The bounty on the scalps, added to the value of the meat and skins, partly paid for the trouble, which required a muster of all the squatters and their employés for a considerable distance around.
"A drive, or battue, is managed in this way: A yard with a high fence is built in one of the scrubs on the plains, and from this yard two fences run out on the plain for a long distance, widening like the sides of the letter V. All the men, boys, and blacks in the neighborhood are mounted on horseback, and scour the country for many miles around; they move in the direction of the jaws of the V, and when the herd is once inside it, the animals are doomed. They go straight towards the scrub which conceals the yard, and do not discover where they are till they are inside the enclosure. Then the rails are put up, the blacks enter with clubs, and the slaughtering begins. A kangaroo can jump clean over a horse, and therefore the fence must be not less than seven feet high to prevent his escape when frightened.