It is remarkable
that they are never found in a fat state, being invariably lean.
Of the flesh we always eat with avidity, but in Europe it would not
be reckoned a delicacy.
A rank flavour forms the principal objection to it.
The tail is accounted the most delicious part, when stewed.
Hitherto I have spoken only of the large, or grey kangaroo, to which
the natives give the name of 'patagaran'.* But there are
(besides the kangaroo-rat) two other sorts. One of them we called
the red kangaroo, from the colour of its fur, which is like that of a hare,
and sometimes is mingled with a large portion of black: the natives
call it 'bagaray'. It rarely attains to more than forty pounds weight.
The third sort is very rare, and in the formation of its head resembles
the opossum. The kangaroo-rat is a small animal, never reaching,
at its utmost growth, more than fourteen or fifteen pounds,
and its usual size is not above seven or eight pounds. It joins to the head
and bristles of a rat the leading distinctions of a kangaroo, by running
when pursued on its hind legs only, and the female having a pouch.
Unlike the kangaroo, who appears to have no fixed place of residence,
this little animal constructs for itself a nest of grass, on the ground,
of a circular figure, about ten inches in diameter, with a hole on one side
for the creature to enter at; the inside being lined with a finer sort
of grass, very soft and downy.
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