Page:Acclimatisation; its eminent adaptation to Australia.djvu/21

19 The attention of this society will also be directed to the rearing and domesticating the animals of the country, and to preserve them from destruction. Among the mammals we have the kangaroo of different genera, some of enormous size and others very diminutive, displaying a variety of colours—blue, red, grey, black, tawny, brown, mottled, &c. The native sloth, or koala, often called by by the colonists native bear (phascolarctus cinereus), the wombat (phascolomys wombat), the opossum (phalangista vulpina), the bandicoot (perameles nasuta), and others, all forming good food; and although the flesh of the kangaroo is said to be dry, I have no doubt it could be improved by being fed on succulent grasses and other suitable food, and it must be acknowledged that kangaroo tail soup is not to be surpassed. Wombat is rarely to be met with, but when procured its flesh is always regarded as a great treat. The lively night animal, the bandicoot, is, when cooked, only to be compared to sucking-pig in flavour. The opossum is good also, especially when curried or stewed; but the monitor lizard, or guana, if one could overcome the repugnance of its appearance, is delicate and excellent food.

Among the birds we have numbers available for the table. The talegalla or brush turkey, is excellent, the legs being regarded as the epicure’s portion, and the eggs are delicious. The large bustard, the wonga wonga, and bronze-wing pigeons, variety of ducks, curlew, teal, redbills, the megapodius, and a number of others, form excellent articles of food for the table.

Owen says, when comparing the Australian with the animals in other parts of the world, that the dasyuri, or native cats, play the part of the foxes and martens; the perameles or bandicoots, the hedgehogs and shrews; the phalangers or flying squirrels, and the koalas or native bears, the squirrels and monkeys, the wombats of the beavers, and the kangaroos of the deer tribe.

When acclimatising animals foreign to the soil, I have before mentioned that endeavours should, by domestication, be made to preserve the mammals and birds indigenous to Australia from extermination, as they will prove valuable to us not only for food and ornament, but also as a medium of exchange with other countries; for Australia is rich in zoology. In the intertropical regions, we find, besides the eucalypti or gum trees, banksiæ or honeysuckles, and other trees of the southern coasts, dense forests of canes, mangroves, &c. Each of these districts has a zoology peculiarly its own. For instance, the banksiæ or honeysuckles, are everywhere tenanted by true