classification.]

1845. J. A. Moore, `Tasmanian Rhymings,' p. 15:

"A kangaroo, like all his race,
Of agile form and placid face."

1861. W. M. Thackeray, `Roundabout Papers', p.83:

"The fox has brought his brush, and the cock has brought his
comb, and the elephant has brought his trunk and the kangaroo
has brought his bag, and the condor his old white wig and black
satin hood."

1880. W. Senior, `Travel and Trout,' p. 8:

"To return to the marsupials. I have been assured that
the kangaroos come first and eat off the grass; that the
wallabies, following, grub up the roots."

1881. A. C. Grant, `Bush Life in Queensland,' vol. i. p. 114:

"Sometimes a kangaroo would come down with measured thud,
thud, and drink, and then return without noticing the human
beings."

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 118:

"According to the traditions of the bush--not always
reliable--the name of kangaroo was given under a misconception.
An aborigine being asked by one of the early discoverers the
name of the animal, replied, `Kangaroo' (`I don't know'), and
in this confession of ignorance or misapprehension the name
originated. It seems absurd to suppose that any black hunter
was really ignorant of the name of an animal which once
represented the national wealth of Australians as the merino
does to-day."

[The tradition is not quite so ridiculous, if the answer
meant--"I don't know what you mean,--I don't understand you."
See above.]

1891. `Guide Zoological Gardens, Melbourne':

"In this enclosure is a wooden model of a kangaroo of ancient
times. This is copied from a restoration by Professor McCoy,
who was enabled to represent it from fossil remains which have
been unearthed at various places in Australia."

1896. E. Meston, `Sydney Bulletin,' April 18:

"The origin of the word `kangaroo' was published by me six
years ago. Captain Cook got it from the Endeavor River blacks,
who pronounce it to-day exactly as it is spelled in the great
navigator's journal, but they use it now only for the big toe.
Either the blacks in Cook's time called the kangaroo `big toe'
for a nick-name, as the American Indians speak of the `big
horn,' or the man who asked the name of the animal was holding
it by the hind foot, and got the name of the long toe, the
black believing that was the part to which the question
referred."

1896. Rev. J. Mathew, Private Letter, Aug. 31:

"Most names of animals in the Australian diale