MACROPUS MAJOR, S/iaiv.
Great Grey Kangaroo.
Spec. Char. Macropus vellere corporis, superne, e ctnereo fusco, apud antibrachios et abdomen caucsccnli-cincrco, anti-
pedibus, pedibus posticis, caudiaque apice nigris ; lined aibescente supra labium per genas excurrente.
Descr. -All the fur on the upper surface uniform greyish brown above, passing into grisly grey on the arm and
under surface; a faint line o f greyish white above the upper lip and along the sides o f the face ; hands, feet
and tip o f the tail black.
Male. Female.
Length from the nose to the extremity of the tail . . . . . . . *7** "n r . *5*' *'
” o f t a i l ...................................................................................................... 3 2 . . . 2 4
„ „ tarsus and toes, including the nail . ......................................1 3 1 ,
„ arm and hand, including the n a ils ................................................1 g 104-
,, ,, face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear . . . 9 g
” .. ” e a r .......................................... . 1 5
Macropus giganteus, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pi. 33.
Didelphis gigantea, Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmel., p. 109.— Schreb., t. 154.
Kanguroo, Cook’s Voy., vol. iii. p. 577. pi. 20.—Phill. Voy., pi. in p. 106.—White’s Voy., pi. in p. 272
Macropus major, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. i. p. 305. pi. 115.—Cook's First Voy., vol. iv. p. 45. pi. 2.—Dcsm. Nouv.
Diet. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p. 33.
Kangurus labiatus, Geoff. Encycl., pi. 21. fig. 4.—Desm. Ency. Meth. Mamm., p. 273.
Boomer, Forester, Old Man Kangaroo o f the Colonists, Bundaary o f the Aborigines o f the Liverpool range.
. * ° j — uavigciiui \_/uoK, in nis voyage
round the world in 1770; and as I conceive all information connected with this early-known species will be interesting
I shall commence my account o f its history with a quotation from the above-mentioned work,
. “ On Friday, June the twenty-second, while stationed for a short time on the south-east coast of Australia ’’ says Cantain
Cook ‘ a party, who were engaged in shooting pigeons for the use of the sick of the ship, saw an animal, which they described
to be as large as a greyhound, of a slender make, of a mouse-colour, and extremely swift.’ The foEowing day the same kind
of animal was again seen by a great many other people. On the twenty-fourth it was seen by Captain Cook himself who
walking at a htfle distance from the shore, observed a quadruped, which he thought bore some resemblance to a greyhound’
and was of a hght mouse-colour, with a long tail, and which he should have taken for a kind of wild dog, had not its extra’
ordinary manner of leaping, instead of running, convinced him of the contrary. Mr. Banks also obtained a transient view of
it, and immediately concluded it to be an animal perfectly new and undescribed.
“ The sight of a creature so extraordinary could not Ml to excite, in the mind of a phEosOphic observer, the most ardent
wishes for a complete examination. These were at length gratified; Mr. Gore, one of the associates in the expedition of
Uaptain Cook, having been so fortunate as to shoot one in the course of a few days.”
Such is the earliest notice to be found relative to this fine species, o f which living examples were a few years afterwards
brought to Europe, and have from time to time formed an interesting addition to our menageries. It is however
remarkable, that though it has now been introduced for so long a period, all attempts at naturalizing it have hitherto
proved futile; still, from my own observations o f the animal in a state o f nature, I am led to believe that a small
degree o f perseverance is alone requisite to effect so desirable an object. Should I be so fortunate as to interest
any who have the means, as well as the inclination, in the furtherance o f this object, we may yet hope to see our large
parks and forests graced with the presence o f this highly ornamental and singular animal. That it would bear the
H H o f our Wlntcrs is almost beyond a doubt, since in Van Diemen’s Land, among other places, it resorts to
the b eak, wet, and frequently snow-capped summit o f Mount Wellington. The kind o f country which appears most
suitable to its nature, consists o f low grassy hills and plains, skirted by thin open forests o f brushwood, to the latter SHDj especially on the continent o f Australia, it resorts for shelter from the oppressive heat o f the mid-day sun.
t loug 1 1 e numbers o f this large species are becoming greatly reduced in consequence o f the intrusion o f civilized
man, and though ,t has disappeared from those localities where he has taken up his abode, accompanied by his
vast flocks and herds, still the immense tracts o f sterile unwatered country which characterize Australia, and present
o f the r ice * 1 ■‘:Ul‘IVati0”• wi"’ 'P 0pinio”’ for a lonS Period afford a sufficient asylum for the preservation
It enjoys a wide range o f habitat, being spread over the colony o f New South Wales, the interior to the northward
as ar as 1 las yet een penetrated, as well as the whole o f the intermediate country between New South Wales and
outh Australia, where I observed it tolerably abundant; but I am induced to believe this latter district is almost the
boundary o f its range westward, although, on this point, I may be in error.
I should consider it as not, strictly speaking, a gregarious animal, as I have never seen more than six or eight
R H H f l ■ ?T n% met ■ 14 Si”gly °r “ pairS- ItS Se"SeS °f Smel,i”S m heari"S are a° H I that it is extremely difficult o f approach without detection, and to effect this it is always necessary to advance against
the wind. It browses upon various kinds o f grasses, herbs and low shrubs, a kind o f food which renders its flesh well
■ ■ H The earI? dawn and eveninS are the P™«*1* which it feeds, and at which it is most certain
Although hunted and frequently killed by the Dingo, its most formidable antagonist has hitherto been the Aborigine
who employs several modes o f obtaining i t ; sometimes stealing upon it with the utmost caution under covert o f the frees
d bushes, until it is within the range o f his spear, which is generally thrown with unerring aim; at other times
dlscovered ‘1*"- «treat, the natives unite in a party, and, forming a large circle gradually, close in upon them