h a large herd of these animals jump
before you. It has often been asserted that they make use of their
tails to spring from you when they are pursued. This is not correct.
Their tails never touch the ground when they move, except when they are
on their feed, or at play; and the faster they run or jump, the higher
they carry them.

"The male kangaroos were called, by the natives, old men, 'wool man;'
and the females, young ladies, 'young liddy.' The males are not so
swift as the females; and the natives, in wet seasons, occasionally run
the former down when very large, their weight causing them to sink in
the wet ground, and thus to become tired. They frequently, however,
make up for this disadvantage by fierceness and cunning, when attacked
either by men or dogs; and it is exceedingly difficult for a brace of
the best dogs to kill a 'corbon wool man.' When they can, they will hug
a dog or a man as a bear would do; and as they are armed with long,
sharp claws, they not unfrequently let a dog's entrails out, or
otherwise lacerate him in the most dreadful manner, sitting all the
while on their haunches, hugging and scratching with determined fury.

"The kind of dog used for coursing the kangaroo is, generally, a cross
between the greyhound and the mastiff, or sheep-dog; but, in a climate
like New South Wales, they have, to use the common phrase, too much
lumber about them. The true-bred greyhound is the most useful dog. He
has more wind; he ascends the hills with more ease, and runs double the
number of courses in a day. He has more bottom in running; and, if he
has less ferocity when he comes up with an 'old man,' so much the
better, as he exposes himself the less, and lives to afford sport
another day. The strongest and most courageous dog can seldom conquer a
'wool man' alone, and not one in fifty will face him fairly; the dog
who has the temerity is certain to be disabled, if not killed.

"The herd of kangaroos we had thus come upon was too numerous to allow
of the dogs' being let loose; but, as the day's walk was drawing to a
close, I had given Maty Bill liberty to catch another kangaroo, if we
should fall in with a single one. After moving up to the foot of the
hill, about a quarter of a mile from the river, my sable companion eyed
a 'corbon wool man,' as he called it, quietly feeding at a distance, on
the slope of the hill. His eyes sparkled; he was all agitation; and he
called out, 'Massa, massa! You tee! you te