1*786. in this pocket. Others, with young ones not bigger than
lu°!' a ra t: one o f which, moff perfetflly formed, with! every mark
and di/Hnguifhing chara«9teriftic of the Kangaroo, I have
. lent to Mr. Wilfon, of Gower Street, Bedford Square.
There is a peculiar formation in the generative parts
of thisr animal. O f its natural hiflory we at present know
little ; and therefore as we are fo unacquainted - with its
habits, haunts, , and cuftoms, to attempt particular , and
accurate defcriptions of it might beget error, which time,
or a fuller knowledge of its properties,' would dire<ftly
contraditd. As, to mere _eonjenures (and foeh top" often
are impofed upon the public for inconteftible fads}3 it
cannot be improper to fuppreft them.
• Every animal in this country partakes, in a great mcafure,
of the nature: o f the Kangaroo. We have the Kangaroo
Opoffum, the Kangaroo Rat, &c. In fadt every quadruped
that we have fcen, except the flying fquirrel/ and a fpotted
creature, nearly the fixe of a Martin, fefembles the Kangaroo
in the “formation o f the fore legs and feet,, which bear
no proportion to the length of the hind. kgs.
The fcarcity of boats will prevent our being fo jyeji
fupplied with fi£h, as otherwife might be expedfced. Fifli
is
is far from abounding at the cold feafon o f thé year ; but,
in the fummer, judging 'from the latter end of the laft, we
Ijhave, every ‘ reafon to conclude ’that the little bays and coves
in the harbour are - well flared with them. The fifh
caught here are, in general, excellent; but federal of them,
like the animals in'fame degree refembling the Kangaroo,
partake of the properties of the fhark. The land, the graft,
the trees, the animals/' the birds, and the fifli, in their
different fpecies, approach by ftrong fliades of fimflitude
to each other. A certain likenefs runs through the whole.
, July 8th. A party 'o f the natives came to the place
where the Sixius’s boat had been fp haul the feme, and
having beaten the crew, took from them by force a
pariT o f : thfe fifh which jhey had càugfet. It is a great
inisfortnne to us that we cannot find proper wood £n this
place wherewith to build a boat; particularly « as fifli is
m t only, fo very ipleatiful in the fummer, but the only
rhange from < provifiotis which we can procure, /there
being neither wild nor donoeflic animals fit for food.
Here* where nö other*animal ; nourishment is to bé procured,
the Kangaroo, is eonfidiered as a dainty ; but in- any other
country I am fore that fuch food -would be thrown to
the