power, and are,;, perhaps,r beyond all .parallel, on*..of
proportion, when compared with, thcrJwe ? « t s . ; As: k
goes, it jumps on its two hind legs-,' from twenty |g tw en ty - ' •
eight feet, and keeps the two 'fore ones clbfe^o. the breaft
thefe.ure' fmall "and feort/ arid it. Teems | | | | them much
like afquirrel. The tail of thefe animals is thick and long j
they keep it .extendedj' and it ferves as a kind ofrcounterpoife
to the head,: which they carry ereft, when abounding., at
hall fpeed*. fThe/velocity of a Kangaroo a!?.,'far feutftrips
that of a greyhound, as'that animal exceeds npfwiftnefs a
common dog. It-*® a very timid, ‘ ihy,’. and /ndffimfive
creature, - evidently of 'the -grativorous kind?.3 Upon -our
firft difcovering one of them,/as it does -not .ufe fesrfcrefeet
toaffift it in running,'"or rather jumping, many: were/bf'
opinion that the tail, which is immenfely rlarge and long,
Was made ufe of by them in the ad of progreffion ;■ but this
is by no means the cafe. Had it been ufed in fuch-a manner,
the hair would probably have been worn awa.y|fmm'the
part which, of courfe,.muft be applied to the ground*??,«The
.tail,. from its fize and weight, feems to ferve it for a weapon
both of defence and offence; for it does not appear that
nature has provided it with any other. Its mouth and head,
even
even-. When • full grown, are too- fmall for it to do much
execution with the teeth ; .nor is the conformation of either
a t-alf calculated • for the purpofe. Indeed, ite-fibre feet,
which it- ufe>^ S& h-fquirrel or monkey, to handle any thing
with, and which affift it in ' lying down, ; are too fmall,
and out cff':pfopoftion,/as .are- all :the-fepefior parts, to
admit - o f/ itl either'- pdffeflkg -or' exerting- mtich|ftrength.
It ha^bee'n-repoVted by feme: convidk who were out one
day,/1 accompanied by a large Newfoundland dog, that the
latter‘feized a very large Kangaroo, but could not preferve
its / S d . - They obferved that the animal'effeded its efcape
by the-defenfive ufe it made of its tail, with which it ftruek
&ts affailant in a moft-'tremendous manner. . The blows
were applied,with fuch force and efficacy,- that the dog
was brmfedV in'many places/- till the blood flowed. They
j&bferved that''the'Kangaroo did not feem to make any ufe
.of either 4ts teeth or fore feeti but fairly beat off the dog
with, its tail, -and efeaped b'efore the convids, though
at no great diftance, 66nl‘4 get up to fecure it.
The female has;a pouch'or pocket, like the Opoffum,
- in which fee carries her-yoUng. - Some have been feot with
a young one, not larger than a walnut, flicking to a teat
in