The typical and most familiar member of the Marsupial Order is the Kangaroo—the heraldic mammal of that vast island-continent in the South Seas, whose phenomenal advance by leaps and bounds, from what scarcely a century since was represented by but a few isolated settlements, has been aptly likened to the characteristic progression of this animal. Of kangaroos proper there are some twenty-four known species distributed throughout the length and breadth of Australia, extending southwards to Tasmania, and to the north as far as New Guinea and a few other adjacent islands.
In point of size the Great Grey Kangaroo and the Red or Woolly species run each other very closely. A full-grown male of either species will weigh as much as 200 lbs., and measure a little over 5 feet from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail, this latter important member monopolising another 4 or 4½ feet. The red or woolly species more especially affects the rocky districts of South and East Australia, while the great grey kind is essentially a plain-dweller and widely distributed throughout the grassy plains of the entire Australian Continent and also Tasmania. It is to the big males of this species that the titles of "Boomer," "Forester," and "Old Man Kangaroos" are commonly applied by the settlers, and the species with which the popular and exciting sport of a kangaroo hunt—the Antipodean substitute for fox-hunting—is associated. The pace and staying power of an old man kangaroo are something phenomenal. Our home country fox-hounds would have no chance with it; consequently a breed of rough-haired greyhounds, known as kangaroo-dogs, are specially trained for this sport. A run of eighteen miles, with a swim of two in the sea at the finish, and all within the space of two brief crowded hours, is one of the interesting records chronicled. The quarry, when brought to bay, is, moreover, a by no means despicable foe. Erect on its haunches, with its back against a tree, the dogs approach it at their peril, as, with a stroke of its powerful spur-armed hind foot, it will with facility disembowel or otherwise fatally maim its assailant. Another favourite refuge of the hunted "boomer" is a shallow water-hole, wherein, wading waist-deep, it calmly awaits its pursuers' onslaught. On the dogs swimming out to the attack, it will seize them with its hand-like fore paws, thrust them under water, and, if their rescue is not speedily effected, literally drown them. Even man, without the aid of firearms, is liable to be worsted in an encounter under these conditions, as is evidenced in the following anecdote.
Photo by W. Reid] [Wishaw, N.B.
TASMANIAN WALLABY.
Has softer and thicker fur than its relative of the Australian mainland.
A newly arrived settler from the old country, or more precisely from the sister island, ignorant of the strength and prowess of the wily marsupial, essayed his maiden kangaroo hunt with only a single dog as company. A fine grey boomer was in due course started, and after an exciting chase was cornered in a water-hole. The dog, rushing after it, was promptly seized and ducked; and Pat, irate at the threatened drowning of his companion, fired, but missed his quarry, and thereupon jumped into the water-hole, with the intention, as he afterwards avowed, "to bate the brains out of the baste" with the butt-end of his gun. The kangaroo, however, very soon turned the tables upon Pat. Before he had time to realise the seriousness of the situation he found himself lifted off his feet, and soused and hustled with such vigour that both Pat and his dog most narrowly escaped a watery grave. A couple of neighbours, by good luck passing that way, observed the turmoil, and came to the rescue. Between them they beat off and killed the kangaroo, and dragged Pat to land in a half-drowned and almost insensible condition. Pat recovered, and vowed "niver to meddle with such big bastes" again.
The doe kangaroos, while of smaller size and possessing much less staying power than their mates, can nevertheless afford a good run for horses and dogs, and are commonly known as "flyers." When carrying a youngster, or "Joey," in her pouch, and hard pressed by the dogs, it is a common thing for the parent to abstract her offspring from the pouch with her fore paws, and to throw it aside into the bush. The instinct of self-preservation only, by the discharge of hampering impedimenta, is usually ascribed to this act; but it is an open question whether the maternal one of securing a chance of escape for her young, while feeling powerless to accomplish it for herself, does not more often represent the actual condition of the case.
In proportion to the size of its body the kangaroo yields but a limited amount of meat that is esteemed for food. The tail represents the most highly appreciated portion, since from it can be compounded a soup not only equal to ordinary ox-tail, but by gourmands considered so superior that its conservation and export have proved a successful trade enterprise. The loins also are much esteemed for the table, but the hind limbs are hard and coarse, and only appreciated by the native when rations are abnormally short. "Steamer," composed of kangaroo-flesh mixed with slices of ham, represented a standing and very popular dish with the earlier Australian settlers; but with the rapid disappearance of the animal before the advance of colonisation this one time common concoction possesses at the present day a greater traditional than actual reputation.
The hunting of the kangaroo is conducted on several distinct lines, the method of its pursuit being varied, according to whether the animal is required for the primary object of food, for the commercial value of its skin, as a matter of pure sport, or to accomplish its wholesale destruction in consequence of its encroachments on the pasturage required for sheep- and cattle-grazing.