do I
recollect a serious case of illness among our neighbours. The winter is
mild,--just cold enough to make a fire comfortable; while the fine
frosty mornings do great good to one who has arrived from India. I used
to enjoy them exceedingly, and invariably walked out before breakfast to
breathe the fine clear air. The cold weather sets in in April, and
continues till September. This is the season to enjoy a gallop in chase
of that most extraordinary animal, the kangaroo. Notwithstanding that
this part of the country is rather hilly, the hardy horses manage to
carry their riders across it in safety. The river abounds with wild duck
at this season, as well as with perch and a small fish here called
herring, from its resemblance to that fish. The settler may thus not
only find amusement for himself in shooting or fishing, but may make a
very agreeable addition to his bush fare by his morning's ramble. The
flesh of the kangaroo is literally good, for nothing: the tail makes
very good soup, but the carcass of the full-grown animal is otherwise of
no value to the European, though the native contrives to make an
occasional meal of it. The young kangaroo of two or three months old,
makes a tolerable substitute for jugged hare, and is frequently on the
tables of the settlers. As population advances up the country, the
kangaroo retires. I have, however, seen some hundreds of a large size
in their native woods, skipping about, and bounding off on the approach
of man. The notion, that a kangaroo makes use of his tail in leaping, is
a mistaken one. I have watched them bounding along a plain, and could
see distinctly that the tail never touched the ground. The female, when
pursued, will retain its young one in the pouch with which nature has
provided it, till very closely pressed by the dogs: it will then drop
the little one, leave it to chance, and make off with increased speed. A
full-grown male ("old man," the aboriginals call them) is more than a
match for a single dog, and will frequently severely punish a couple of
assailants before surrendering. These animals are easily tamed, and make
very pretty pets in a garden. Speaking of a garden, we had an excellent
orchard, which supplied us with abundance of apricots, peaches,
nectarines, figs, green-gages, apples, pears, and oranges, while the
garden furnished many a dish of strawberries: for gooseberries, the
climate is not cold enough.

In March and April, the farmer is busied in