followed the leading one on msse, .unless divided b j # e dogs : it is true there is no regular leader, but when
one is disturbed, the whole herd immediately take alarm, and one bounding oif is the signal for the whole
to follow : when running in this way, the does soon take the lead, while the males from their greater weight
are unable to keep up with- them, and often bring up the rear a long distance behind, but they all follow
in the same track as the leading does, and when the latter stop the entire herd stop-also : this habit I have
noticed so frequently, that I have always considered the Kangaroo as a gregarious animal. Occasionally
an old and very large male will take possession of a valley, and there remain for years without moving a
mile from the spot, leading in fact a perfectly misanthropic life; such instances, however, are not very
common ; still, two or three spots are known to me which have been thus tenanted for years, many of the
settlers and aborigines, now young men, remembering these particular animals from their childhood. Some
of the most experienced Kangaroo-hunters have endeavoured to capture them, but have invariably failed, at
the cost o f much injury to their dogs : with the exception of cases like these, it is rare to meet with a
single Kangaroo.”
Mr. Gunn states that in Van Diemen’s Land the Kangaroos “ lodge during the heat of the day amongst
h i-h ferns, such as Pteris esadenta, higb-grass, and in underwood, commonly called scrub, th a t is, dense
patches of Melaleuca, Leplospermum, &c. on the margins o f streams ; and although almost all. the forest trees
(Eucalypti) are hollow at the butt, and innumerable dead and hollow trees cover the ground, I have never
known them used as sleeping-places ; the space under a dead tree is much more likely to be resorted to
for this purpose than the hollow of a living one.”
The senses of smelling and hearing are so exquisite in this animal 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 of grasses, herbs and low shrubs, a kind of food which renders its flesh well-tasted and
nutritive. The early dawn and evening are the periods at which it feeds, and at which it is most certain to
be met with. .
Although hunted and frequently killed by the Dingo, or native dog, its most formidable antagonist has
hitherto been the Aborigine, who employs several modes of obtaining i t ; sometimes stealing upon it with
the utmost caution under covert of the trees and bushes, until it is within the range of his spear, which is
generally thrown with unerring aim ; a t other times, having discovered their retreat, the natives unite in a
party, and, forming a large circle, gradually close in upon them with shouts and yells, h y which the animals
are so terrified and confused, that they easily become victims to the bommerengs, clubs and spears which
are directed against them from all sides.
Still, however formidable an enemy the Aborigine may have been, the Great Grey Kangaroo finds, at thé
present time, a far greater one in the white man, whose superior knowledge enables him to employ, for its
destruction, much more efficient weapons and assailants than those of the more simple son of nature.
Independently of the gun, he brings to his aid dogs of superior breed, and of so savage a nature, that the
timid Kangaroo has but little chance when opposed to them. These dogs, which run entirely by sigbt,
partake of the nature of the greyhound and deerhound, and from their great strength and fléétnéss are so
well adapted for the duties to which they are trained, th at its escape, when this occurs, is owing to peculiar,
and favourable circumstances, as, for example, the oppressive heat of the day, or the nature o f the ground ;
the former incapacitating the dogs for a severe chase, and the hard ridges which the Kangaroo invariably
endeavours to gain giving him a great advantage over his pursuers. On such grounds the females in
particular will frequently outstrip the fleetest greyhound, while, on the contrary, heavy old inalésr ;ob soft
ground, are easily overtaken. Many of these fine Kangaroo-dogs are kept at the stock-stations of the interior
for the sole purpose of running the Kangaroo and the Emu, the latter being killed solely for the supply
of oil which it yields, and the former for mere sport, or for food for the dogs. - Although I have killed the
largest males with a single dog, it is not generally advisable to attempt this, as they possess great power,
and frequently rip up the dogs, and sometimes even cut them to the heart with a single stroke o f the hind
leg. Three or four dogs are more generally laid on, one of superior fleetness to “ pull ” the Kangaroo,
while the others rush in upon and kill it. It sometimes adopts a singular mode of defending itself by
clasping its short powerful fore-limbs around its antagonist, leaping away with it to the nearest water-hole,
and there keeping it beneath the surface until drowned: with dogs the old males will do this whenever
they have an opportunity,, and it is said that they will also attempt to do the same with man. In Van
Diemen's Land the Macropus major forms an object of chase, and like the Deer and Fox m England, is
hunted with hounds ; and twice a week, during the season, the Nimrods of this distant land may be seen,
mounted on their fleet steeds, crossing the ferry o f the Derwent, a t Hobart Town, on their way to the
hunting-ground, where they seldom meet without “ finding.” The following particulars of the “ hunt."
have been obligingly forwarded to me hy the Honourable Henry Elliot, late aide-de-camp to His Excellency
Sir John Franklin, and one of its chief patrons.
“ I have much pleasure in telling you all I know of the Kangaroo-hnnting in Van Diemen’s Land. The
hounds are kept hy Mr. Gregson, and have been bred hy him from foxhounds imported from England ;
and though not so fast as most hounds here now are, they are quite as fast as it is possible to ride to in
that country.
“ The ‘Boomer’ is the only Kangaroo which shows good sport, for the strongest ‘Brush Kangaroo’
cannot live above twenty minutes before the hounds1; but as the two kinds are always found in perfectly
different’ situations, we never were at a loss to find a Boomer, and I must say that they seldom failed to
show us good sport. We generally • found’ in a high cover of young wattles ; but sometimes we ‘ found’
in the open forest, and then it was really pretty to see the style in which a good Kangaroo would go away.
I recollect one day in particular, when a very fine Boomer jumped up in the very middle of the hounds, in
the ‘ open ’; he at first took a few high jumps with his head up, looking about him to see on which side
the coast was clearest, and then, without a moment’s hesitation, he stooped forward and shot away from the
hounds, apparently without an effort, and gave us the longest run I ever saw after a Kangaroo. He ran
fourteen miles by the map from point to point, and if he had had fair play, I have very little doubt but that
he would then have beat u s ; but he had taken along a tongue of land which ran into the sea, so that, on
being pressed, he was forced to try to swim across the arm o f the sea, which, at the place where he took
the water, cannot have been less than two miles broad; in spite of a fresh breeze and a head sea against
him, he got fully half-way over, but he could not make head against the waves any further, and was obliged
to turn back, when, being quite exhausted, he was soon killed.
“ Thedistance he ran, taking in the different bends in the line, cannot have been less than eighteen miles,
and he certainly swam more than two. I can give no idea of the length o f time it took him to run this
distance, but it took us something more than two h o u rs; and it was evident, from the way in which the
hounds were running, that he was a long way before u s ; and it was also plain that he was still fresh, as,
quite a t the end o f the run, he went over the top of a very high hill, which a tired Kangaroo never will
attempt to do, as dogs gain so much on them in going up-hill. His hind quarters weighed within a pound
or two of seventy pounds, which is large for the Van Diemen’s Land Kangaroo, though I have seen larger.
“ We did not measure the length of the hop o f this Kangaroo; but on another occasion, when the
Boomer had taken along the beach, and left his prints in the sand, the length of each jump was found to
be ju st fifteen feet, and as regular as if they had been stepped by a serjeant. When a Boomer is pressed, he
is very apt to take to the water, and then it requires several good dogs to kill him ; for he stands waiting
for them, and as soon as they swim up to the attack, he takes hold of them with his fore-feet, and holds them
under water. The buck is altogether very bold, and will generally make a stout resistance; for if he cannot
g et to the water, he will place his back against a tree, so that lie cannot be attacked from behind, and then
the best dog will find in him a formidable antagonist.
“ The doe, on the contrary, is a very timid creature; and I have even seen one die o f fear. It was in a
place where we wished to preserve them, and as soon as we found that we were running a doe, we stopped the
hounds ju st at the moment they were running into her. She had uot received the slightest injury, but she
lay down and died in about ten minutes. When a doe is beat she generally makes several sharp doubles, and
then gets among the branches, or close to the truuk of a fallen tree, and remains so perfectly still, that she
will allow you almost to ride over her without moving, and in this way she often escapes. A tolerably good
Kangaroo will generally give a run of from six to ten miles; but in general they do not run that distance in
a straight line, but make one large ring back to the place where they were found, though the larger ones
often go straight away.” ..
An extraordinary difference is observable in the size o f the sexes o f this species, the female being not
more than half the size of the male: she brings forth one young a t a time, which, as soon as it is clothed
with hair, assumes the colouring of the adult.
A slight variation is found to exist in specimens from different localities, some being much darker than
those represented in the Plate, and others of a foxy-red. Albinoes are occasionally, hut very rarely, to be
met with. As might reasonably be expected also, the fur is much thicker and more woolly in winter than
in summer.
All the fur on the upper surface uniform greyish-brown above, passing into grisly-grey on the arm and
under surface; a faint line of greyish-white above the upper lip and along the sides of the face; hands, feet,
and tip o f the tail black.
Male. Female,
feet, inches. feet, inches.
Length from the nose to the extremity of the tail . . . . . . 7 10 . . . 5 11$
i of t a i l .......................................................................................... 3 2 . . . 2 4$
„ tarsus and toes, including the n a i l ..................................... 1 3 . . . 1 $
& » arm and hand, including the n a i l s ........................... . 1 6 . . . 10$
„ „ face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear . . 9 . . . 8
• Vr ’ » e a r .........................................................................; . . . 5$ . . . 5
The accompanying Plates represent a head o f the male animal of the natural size, and reduced figures of
adult examples of both sexes.
Since the publication of my Monograph of the Kangaroos, in which my account of this species first
appeared, my friend Mr. G. R. Waterhouse has paid particular attention to the Marsupialia, and has
recorded his opinion in the work above referred to, that the Kangaroos described by me as distinct, under
the names of Macropus ocydromus and M. melanops, are merely local varieties of the present animal; whether
my own or Mr. Waterhouse’s view of the subject be the correct one, time and future research can alone
determine; in the meanwhile it will be as well to append my descriptions, and the information I have
received in reference to the animals to which I have assigned the two names above mentioned. Mr. Waterhouse
is also of opinion that the animals in the Paris Museum, described under the name o f Kangurus
and Macropus fuliginosus, will probably prove to be merely a variety of M. major, in which I believe he is