, and completely helpless. Now the pouch comes
into use. The little creature is conveyed there by the mother's lips,
and immediately attaches itself to one of the nipples, which are
retractile, and capable of being drawn out to a considerable length.
Thus constantly attached to its parent, it waxes bigger daily. From
two to eight months of age it still continues an inhabitant of its
curious cradle, but now often protrudes its little head to take an
observation of the world at large, and to nibble the grass amongst
which its mother is feeding. Sometimes it has a little run by itself,
but seeks the maternal bosom at the slightest intimation of danger. It
quits the pouch for good when it can crop the herbage freely; but even
now it will often poke its head into its early home and get a little
refreshment on the sly, even though a new-comer may have succeeded to
its place.

AN AUSTRALIAN SEARCH PARTY--III.

BY CHARLES H. EDEN.

A FULL-GROWN "paddy melon," a small and beautiful species of kangaroo,
bearing the same resemblance to the "boomer" that a Cingalese
mouse-deer does to an elk, was once given to me as a pet, and we became
great friends. Whenever I went into the room and opened my shirt or
coat, the little fellow would bound in and coil himself snugly away for
hours, if permitted; thus showing, I think that he still retained a
recollection of the snug abode of his childhood. Like most pets, he
came to an untimely end--in fact, met with the fate that ultimately
befalls all the members of his tribe who are domesticated and allowed
to run about the bush huts in Australia. The fireplaces are large
recesses in the wall, and on the same level as the floor. Wood only is
burnt, and large heaps of glowing ashes accumulate, for the fire never
really goes out, by night or day. As long as it is blazing, the pet
kangaroo will keep his distance, but when it has sunk down to living
coals, his foolish curiosity is sure to impel him, sooner or later, to
jump right into the thick of it; and then--and here his want of brains
is painfully shown--instead of jumping out again at once, he commences
fighting and spurring the burning embers with his hind feet, and, as a
natural sequence, is either found half roasted, or so injured that his
death is inevitable.

The uses to which the settler puts this animal are many. He has to
take the place of the stag when any hunting is going on (as the dingo
has to act for the fox);