Page:Australia, from Port Macquarie to Moreton Bay.djvu/223

 and the Kangaroo-rat. The red-backed kangaroo, (Macropus laniger,) is occasionally seen on the open elevated table-land.

The largest kangaroo I ever saw was killed close to my tents at Munga creek at the MacLeay river, it weighed very nearly two hundred and fifty pounds, and disabled one of the dogs which had attacked him. It is scarcely necessary to mention that the kangaroo only uses his fore-feet for grazing or digging He advances by a succession of leaps, in making which, his tail, which he carries at right angles to his body, is of great service; some of them have been known in these leaps to spring over obstacles eight feet high.

The best dogs for hunting this animal, are those which are a cross between the greyhound and some larger and coarser dogs; the lurcher and the large Scotch deer-hound are very well suited for this kind of sport. As soon as a kangaroo is started, he bounds away for some minutes at as fast a rate as the fleetest dogs, but the latter soon gain upon him, especially if he ascends the steep slope of a range, which is peculiarly disadvantageous to his manner of progression. However, if the country is very brushy and rocky, he frequently escapes from his facility of clearing all impediments in his way, by his amazing leaps.

Whilst the chase lasts the horses must keep up a