Goldsmith, Whose Account Of The Emu Is The Only One I Can Refer To, Says,
"That It Is Covered From
The back and rump with long feathers, which fall
backward, and cover the anus; these feathers are grey on the
Back, and white
on the belly." The wings are so small as hardly to deserve the name,
and are unfurnished with those beautiful ornaments which adorn the wings
of the ostrich: all the feathers are extremely coarse, but the construction
of them deserves notice - they grow in pairs from a single shaft, a singularity
which the author I have quoted has omitted to remark. It may be presumed,
that these birds are not very scarce, as several have been seen, some of them
immensely large, but they are so wild, as to make shooting them a matter
of great difficulty. Though incapable of flying, they run with such swiftness,
that our fleetest greyhounds are left far behind in every attempt
to catch them. The flesh was eaten, and tasted like beef.
Besides the emu, many birds of prodigious size have been seen, which promise
to increase the number of those described by naturalists, whenever we shall
be fortunate enough to obtain them; but among these the bat of the
Endeavour River is not to be found. In the woods are various little songsters,
whose notes are equally sweet and plaintive.
Of quadrupeds, except the kangaroo, I have little to say. The few met with
are almost invariably of the opossum tribe, but even these do not abound.
To beasts of prey we are utter strangers, nor have we yet any cause to believe
that they exist in the country. And happy it is for us that they do not,
as their presence would deprive us of the only fresh meals the settlement
affords, the flesh of the kangaroo. This singular animal is already known
in Europe by the drawing and description of Mr. Cook. To the drawing nothing
can be objected but the position of the claws of the hinder leg, which are
mixed together like those of a dog, whereas no such indistinctness
is to be found in the animal I am describing. It was the Chevalier De Perrouse
who pointed out this to me, while we were comparing a kangaroo with the plate,
which, as he justly observed, is correct enough to give the world in general a
good idea of the animal, but not sufficiently accurate for the man of science.
Of the natural history of the kangaroo we are still very ignorant. We may,
however, venture to pronounce this animal, a new species of opossum,
the female being furnished with a bag, in which the young is contained;
and in which the teats are found. These last are only two in number,
a strong presumptive proof, had we no other evidence, that the kangaroo brings
forth rarely more than one at a birth. But this is settled beyond a doubt,
from more than a dozen females having been killed, which had invariably
but one formed in the pouch. Notwithstanding this, the animal may be looked on
as prolific, from the early age it begins to breed at, kangaroos with young
having been taken of not more than thirty pounds weight; and there is room
to believe that when at their utmost growth, they weigh not less than
one hundred and fifty pounds. A male of one hundred and thirty pounds weight
has been killed, whose dimensions were as follows:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Feet. Inches.
Extreme length 7 3
Ditt of the tail 3 4 1/2
Ditto of the hinder legs 3 2
Ditto of the fore paws 1 7 1/2
Circumference of the tail of the root 1 5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After this perhaps I shall hardly be credited, when I affirm that the kangaroo
on being brought forth is not larger than an English mouse. It is, however,
in my power to speak positively on this head, as I have seen more than one
instance of it.
In running, this animal confines himself entirely to his hinder, legs,
which are possessed with an extraordinary muscular power. Their speed
is very great, though not in general quite equal to that of a greyhound;
but when the greyhounds are so fortunate as to seize them, they are incapable
of retaining their hold, from the amazing struggles of the animal. The bound
of the kangaroo, when not hard pressed, has been measured, and found
to exceed twenty feet.
At what time of the year they copulate, and in what manner, we know not:
the testicles of the male are placed contrary to the usual order of nature.
When young the kangaroo eats tender and well flavoured, tasting like veal,
but the old ones are more tough and stringy than bullbeef. They are not
carnivorous, and subsist altogether on particular flowers and grass.
Their bleat is mournful, and very different from that of any other animal:
it is, however, seldom heard but in the young ones.
Fish, which our sanguine hopes led us to expect in great quantities,
do not abound. In summer they are tolerably plentiful, but for some
months past very few have been taken. Botany Bay in this respect exceeds
Port Jackson. The French once caught near two thousand fish in one day,
of a species of grouper, to which, from the form of a bone in the head
resembling a helmet, we have given the name of light horseman. To this
may be added bass, mullets, skait, soles, leather-jackets, and many other
species, all so good in their kind, as to double our regret at their not being
more numerous. Sharks of an enormous size are found here. One of these
was caught by the people on board the Sirius, which measured at the shoulders
six feet and a half in circumference. His liver yielded twenty-four gallons
of oil; and in his stomach was found the head of a shark, which had been
thrown overboard from the same ship.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 21 of 24
Words from 20426 to 21428
of 24415
