H A L M A T U K O S B E M E T T I .
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HALMATURUS BENNETTI .
Bennett’s Wallaby.
H e a d a n d F o r e a r m , o f t h e s i z e o f l i f e .
T h r e e species of the larger Kangaroos are indigenous to the Island of Tasmania, or Van
Diemen’s Land, viz. Macropus major, Halmaturus Bennetti, and H. Billardieri. Of these
the H. Bennetti is intermediate in size, and is the most important, since its flesh is a
staple commodity as an article of food, and its skin affords no inconsiderable profit to
the settlers, vast numbers of skins being annually sold.
The life-sized portrait of the upper portion of this animal will convey a just conception
of its physiognomy, while the reduced figures, which are drawn to scale, will show how
disproportionate in size are its hind quarters: it is these latter parts of the animal which
are eaten by all classes, from the Governor of the colony to the stockmen. The relative
weights and admeasurements of the two sexes are given on the succeeding page, to which
I must therefore refer my readers for further particulars respecting the species.