53. THE KING OF THE KANGAROOS. bay, standing to meet an enemy. man-eu'ver [-u'ver], a movement. mar-sü'pi-al, a pouched animal. mis'sile [-sil], hurled or shot. my-thol'o-gy, system of legends. 1. THE extraordinary animals which are grouped together under the title of marsupials* are, with the exception of the well-known opossum of the Southern States, inhabitants of Australia and the Indian Archipelago. 2. The peculiarity which gives the greatest interest to this group of animals is the singular pouch found in the female marsupials. In this pouch the young pass the early period of their life. By degrees, as they grow older, they put their heads out of the living cradle in order to survey the world at leisure. In a few weeks more they gain sufficient strength to leave the pouch entirely, and to frisk about under the guardianship of their mother, who, however, is always ready, if there is any rumor of danger, to receive them again into their hiding-place; and, if any necessity for flight should present itself, she flies from the dangerous locality carrying her young with her. 3. The largest of this class of animals is the celebrated giant kangaroo of Australia. The average dimensions of the adult male are generally as follows: The total length is about seven feet six inches, counting from the nose to the tip of the tail; the head and body exceed four feet, and the tail is rather more than three feet in length; the circumference of the tail at its base is about a foot. When it sits erect after its curious fashion, supported by its hind *Lat. marsupium, a purse or pouch. quarters and tail, its height is rather more than fifty inches; but when it wishes to survey the country, and stands erect upon its toes, it surpasses in height many a well-grown man. 4. According to circumstances, these animals walk or leap, and the tail in either case plays a great part. In walking they first place their feet on the ground; then, leaning on those which are in front and on their tail stretched out like a rigid bar, they raise their hinder parts, bringing up at the same time their two hind legs close to their two fore legs, and moving the latter forward to begin again the same maneuver. 5. One can understand that they cannot move very quickly in this way, and so they have recourse to another expedient when they are pursued, or when they want to leap over any obstacle which they find in their way. The fore legs then remain unemployed, hanging idly along the body. Squatting on its hind legs, the tail stiff and leaning on the ground like a prop, as it does when the animal is walking, the kangaroo bounds as if it were propelled forward by a spring, and alights a little farther on, where it begins the same exercise over again; and thus on indefinitely, till it chooses to stop. 6. The larger species of kangaroo clear as much as thirty feet in length in a single bound, and can jump from seven to eight feet in height. Nothing is more curious than to see them traversing space with the rapidity of an arrow, and, like the Titans we read of in mythology, receiving fresh vigor every time they touch the ground. 7. As the kangaroo is a valuable animal, not only for the sake of its skin, but on account of its flesh,-which is in some estimation among the human inhabitants of its native land, it is eagerly sought after by hunters, both white and black, and affords good sport to both on account of its speed, its vigor, and its wariness. The native hunter, who trusts chiefly to his own cunning and address for stealing unobserved upon the animal and lodging a spear in its body before it is able to elude its subtle enemy, finds the kangaroo an animal which will test all his powers before he can attain his object. 8. The male kangaroo, or "boomer," is a dangerous antagonist to man and dog, and unless destroyed by missile weapons, will often prove more than a match for the combined efforts of man and beast. When the animal finds that it is being run down by the swift and powerful kangaroo dogs, which are bred for the express purpose of chasing this one kind of prey, it turns suddenly to bay, and placing its back against a tree-trunk so that it cannot be attacked from behind, patiently awaits the onset of its adversaries. Should an unwary dog approach within too close a distance of the kangaroo, the animal launches so terrible a blow with its hinder foot, that the long and pointed claw with which that foot is armed cuts like a knife, and has often laid open the entire body of the dog with a single blow. WOOD AND FIGUIER. 1. MILD and innocent as the kangaroo looks, to bring him to bay is only half way towards conquering him. He may take to a water-hole, and standing therein and seizing the dogs as they approach him, thrust them under water, holding this one at the bottom with his hinder feet, and this one by the nape of the neck with his hand-like forepaws, till death by drowning thins the pack very considerably. 2. Should the hunter bring the kangaroo to bay on land, the animal will fight desperately for his life. Each of his hind legs is furnished with a claw as formidable as a boar's tusk, and woe betide the dog that comes within the range of a lunge of either of them; or, worse still; if the kangaroo should catch his assailant in his fore-arms: there he will hold him till he is flayed from chest to tail. That even man may not attack the kangaroo with impunity may be shown by the following incident. 3. I had commenced the attack with my dogs, one of which had been seized and treated in the unceremonious fashion above noticed. Exasperated by the irreparable loss of poor Trip, I hastened to its revenge, nothing doubting that with one fell swoop of my formidable club my enemy would be prostrate at my feet. Alas! decay and the still more remorseless white ants frustrated my intentions, and all but left me a victim to my strange and active foe. a 4. No sooner had the heavy blow I aimed descended on his head than my weapon shivered into a thousand pieces (the heart of it had been eaten out by the white ants, customary practice with these interesting insects); and I found myself in the giant embrace of my antagonist, who was hugging me with rather too warm a demonstration of friendship, and ripping at me in a way by no means pleasant. My only remaining dog, too, now thoroughly exhausted by wounds and loss of blood, and apparently quite satisfied of her master's superiority, remained a mute and motionless spectator of the new and unequal contest. 5. Notwithstanding my utmost efforts to release myself from the grasp of the brute, they were unavailing, and I found my strength gradually diminishing; while, at the same time, my sight was obscured by the blood which now flowed freely from a deep wound extending from the back part of my head over the whole length of my face. I was, in fact, becoming an easy prey to the kangaroo, who continued to insert with renewed vigor his talons into my |