Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/165

 The chief employment of the men is the search for food: opossums, kangaroo rats, and "wild cats seem their most common game—the kangaroo and emu are, and I believe always have been, considered rarities. Their mode of hunting the opossum is a sure, but by no means a sporting method. This animal generally lives in a hollow tree; when such a tree is found with an opossum in it, they cut down upon it, (to use a surgical phrase,) and if the operation be not successful, that is, if they do not take the animal at once, they light a fire at the bottom of the tree, the hollow of which acts like a funnel in drawing the flame, this makes the animal bolt, when it becomes an easy prey. Upon these occasions they have to climb the trees, which they do in a most surprising manner, merely cutting notches about an inch deep, to support the ball ef the foot and give a slight hold with the hand: they cut the notch above them as they ascend, and use it first as a hold, and then as a step. In this manner, with great rapidity, they run up trees, the stems of which are perfectly smooth, and without branches for seventy or eighty feet from the ground. In this species of chasse the sagacity of the hunter is displayed chiefly in discovering his game, which he does by the tracks of the little animal running up and down the tree, and which are scarcely observable except to experienced eyes; but they can tell you whether these tracks are perfectly fresh, a few hours, or a day, or more, old. They are great adepts at tracking animals of all kinds, and in this way are often of great service to the settlers in recovering lost flocks of sheep. When in pursuit of the larger game, such as kangaroo