Page:Victoria, with a description of its principal cities, Melbourne and Geelong.djvu/90

 used; with some care, however, a very good oil is obtained by boiling them down, which some of the more experienced Bushmen turn to good account. The emu lays from ten to twelve eggs, which they hide in the sand or loose earth; they are much larger than the ostrich, measuring from ten to twelve inches in circumference, and are of a dark-blue colour.

The kangaroo is a very curious-looking animal, having all the properties of the deer, but of a very different form and appearance; there are several kinds of them, and they go regularly down from the large forester, which stands five feet high, through several grades of sizes, even to the rat and mouse kangaroo, all preserving exactly the same form, and the same manner of living and peculiarities, in the most remarkable way—a curious study for the naturalist.

They answer for the stag and hare-hunting of England; the colour of the skin is that of the hare; they are of a very curious shape, sitting on their hind-legs, which are long and sinewy, but bent under them to support them in a sitting posture, with body and head erect. Their forefeet, or rather arms, are very short and small, but strong and sinewy, used more as claws for procuring their food; the whole species is entirely graminivorous. The head is like that of a young deer, though the ears and nose are longer; they have a quiet and gentle aspect, and are very easily tamed; indeed, even in their wild state they are often