The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay: With an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (1789)Phillip, Arthur
History
The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay: With an Account of the Establishment of the Colonies of Port Jackson and Norfolk Island (1789)
Phillip, Arthur
Natural history -- Australia -- New South Wales; New South Wales -- Discovery and exploration; Norfolk Island
In many places fires had lately been made; but in one only were seen any
shells of oysters or muscles, and there not more than half a dozen.
Fish-bones were not found at all, which seems to prove, that in their
journies inland these people do not carry with them any provisions of
that kind. Kanguroos were frequently seen, but were so shy that it was
very difficult to shoot them. With respect to these animals, it is rather
an extraordinary circumstance, that, notwithstanding their great shyness,
and notwithstanding they are daily shot at, more of them are seen near
the camp than in any other part of the country. The kanguroo, though it
resembles the jerboa in the peculiarity of using only the hinder legs in
progression, does not belong to that genus. The pouch of the female, in
which the young are nursed, is thought to connect it rather with the
opossum tribe. This extraordinary formation, hitherto esteemed peculiar
to that one genus, seems, however, in New Holland not to be sufficiently
characteristic: it has been found both in the rat and the squirrel kind.
The largest kanguroo which has yet been shot weighed about one hundred
and forty pounds. But it has been discovered that there are two kinds,
one of which seldom exceeds sixty pounds in weight: these live chiefly on
the high grounds: their hair is of a reddish cast, and the head is
shorter than in the larger sort. Young kanguroos which have been taken,
have in a few days grown very tame, but none have lived more than two or
three weeks. Yet it is still possible that when their proper food shall
be better known, they may be domesticated. Near some water, in this
journey, was found the dung of an animal that fed on grass, which, it was
supposed, could not have been less than a horse. A kanguroo, so much
above the usual size, would have been an extraordinary phaenomenon,
though no larger animal has yet been seen, and the limits of growth in
that species are not ascertained. The tail of the kanguroo, which is very
large, is found to be used as a weapon of offence, and has given such
severe blows to dogs as to oblige them to desist from pursuit. Its flesh
is coarse and lean, nor would it probably be used for food, where there
was not a scarcity of fresh provisions. The disproportion between the
upper and lower parts of this animal is greater than has been shown in
any former delineations of it, but is well expressed in the plate
inserted here.
The dimensions of a stuffed kanguroo in the possession of Mr. Nepean,
are these,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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