he disappointment he had sustained; the
fact was, upon leaving the camp in the morning he had taken a firestick
in his hand, and gone straight back to where we skinned the kangaroo on
the 21st, with the intention of singeing off the hair and eating the
skin, which had been left hanging over a bush. Upon his arrival he found
it gone: the wild dogs had been beforehand with him and deprived him of
the meal he expected; hence his gloomy, discontented look upon his
return. As yet I had not told him that I had been fishing; but upon
showing him what I had brought home, and giving him the two largest for
supper, his brow again cleared, and he voluntarily offered to go out
again to try to get a kangaroo to-morrow.
May 23.--Leaving Wylie asleep at the camp, I set off early to fish at
Point Malcolm. After catching four rock-fish, weighing five pounds, and
losing several hooks, I commenced hunting about among the rocks for
crabs, of which I procured about a dozen They were quite different from
the English crab, being very small, not more than three or four inches in
diameter, and without any meat in the inside of the shell; but the chine
and claws afforded very fair pickings. Upon returning to the camp, I
learnt from Wylie with great satisfaction that he had shot another
kangaroo as he went to bring up the horses. The latter were now at the
camp; so sending him to water them, I remained behind to dry my clothes,
which had got thoroughly wetted in catching the crabs.
Upon Wylie's return I mounted him on one of the horses, and accompanying
him on foot, proceeded to where he had left the kangaroo; as it was only
one mile and a half away we brought it back upon the horse, entire, that
we might skin it more leisurely at the camp. It was a larger one than the
last, and promised an abundant supply of food for some days; added to
this we had five pounds of fish and a dozen crabs, so that our larder was
well and variously stocked. Upon skinning the kangaroo, Wylie carefully
singed, folded up, and put away the skin for another day, fully
determined that this time he would lose no part of the precious prize.
Having taken the paunch and emptied it, he proceeded to make a kind of
haggis (rather a dirty one to be sure), by putting into it the liver,
lights, heart, and small intestines, and then tying it up, thrust it into
the fire to be roasted whole. This seemed to be a favourite dish with
him, and he was now as happy as a king, sleeping and
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