upon the grass, which was rank and tasteless, and at length I came to
the conclusion that they were animals peculiar to Australia, and such as
I had not seen before.

"Smith," I said, calling to that worthy man, who, I thought, was nodding
in a mysterious manner.

"Well," he answered, rubbing his eyes and trying to appear as though he
had not thought of sleeping on his post.

"What kind of animals are these within a rod of the camp, feeding so
quietly?"

When I spoke and pointed to them, I was astonished to find that, during
the short time my attention was occupied, half a dozen others were in
sight, but they were no longer feeding--they appeared to be surprised at
the sound of a human voice, and were listening attentively.

"Why, hang it, man, do you mean to say that you don't know a kangaroo
when you see one?" and Smith laughed at my greenness.

"Do you mean to say that those are kangaroos?" I demanded.

"Of course they are; see that fellow sitting on his tail near you. He is
almost as large as a native, and were it not for showing the black
devils our position I would knock him over, and we would have fresh
steaks for breakfast."

"But I supposed that the kangaroo was a very wild animal," Fred said,
joining in the conversation.

"So they are; but in the night time I have known them to mingle with
horses and not leave until daylight. They appear to have a remarkable
attachment for horses; and a man riding over a prairie can approach them
within a few rods without exciting suspicions."

I was listening attentively to Smith, but still I kept an eye on our
visitors, and noticed that they gradually lessened their distance
between us, and were so near that they could not fail to note our
positions.

"Do kangaroos usually carry spears in their paws?" I asked of Smith, in
a whisper.

"What do you mean?" he demanded.

"I mean that instead of animals we have natives to deal with, and in
another moment our throats would have been cut by the sly scamps."

I snatched up my rifle, and hardly waiting to place it at my shoulder,
fired.

The kangaroo, alias a native sewed up in a skin, sprang towards me, but
with a yell of agony fell dead at my feet.

I seized my revolver, but before I could use it Fred's rifle and Smith's
double-barrelled gun answered my lead, and two more natives were
bleeding upon the field.

The smoke slowly drifted past, but no more live kangaroos were to be
seen.

I looked for Rover, bu