Show U 0 0 tr r diat X e 42 ST W N tile the earl early annals annala of the alio colony of south australia it la in recorded I 1 that when a party ot of explorers under flinders first landed on kangaroo kani hani island lal tind about 15 miles front doni adelaide they found great numbers of kangaroos which never hiving having seen mon man before were so tame and unsophisticated that they simply stood about and waited to be knocked an the tha head hen with the result that in ft a few hours 31 3 were killed the savi binell est eat ot of which weighed wi sighed 69 coundi A continuance ot of these primitive conditions would bo be highly appreciated by the black blace fellow who naturally jouke looks upon the kangaroo simply as an animated bundle of meals abi mere slaughter ot of anthala for lood food however does not constitute sport and your i our white settler of sporting proclivities Is better pleased with J resent present day conditions that Is to say in most districts ot of the commonwealth where the kangaroo lian Is just pearce enough and wild enough to provide the necessary excitement and uncertainty ot of the chase every country upcountry up station keeps a couple or oc speedy hounds bounds very like grey greyhound greyhounds hounds a in build but bigger and heavier they are the regular kangaroo roo dogs though used as stock dadog dogs also the tha modus operands ope randl of 0 kangaroo hunting with dogs doga resembles coursing in some some respects the tantAn mounted on a nag nal ot of met tle tie rides into the open plain the dogs trotting at his corsel heels presently above the tall tail kan kangaroo garci araps or ag imp amone the aandal wood bushes ho sees he heads ot of kangaroo bobbing about perhaps a mob of tour four or five A sharp word to the dogs and they dart forward silently but the quick ears eara and scent of the kangaroo warn them ot of approaching danger an and d they scatter in all directions it they got get a good start and one happens to lag behind the others the tha two dogs may take after the one in which case the run Is likely to be short but as a rule each dog selects d a particular victim and runs it to a standstill not a coward when a full grown male kangaroo Is rushed by a dog he will often make abolt a bolt for it as would a frightened coed not because he Is a coward but simply to avoid trouble and as he bounds away ho he might be saying I 1 dont want to but by jingo if I 1 do ive got the arms armi ive rot got the gtna ive got the courage tuo too no self respecting kangaroo hang aioo however will allow himself to bo be pulled down while on the run consequently js as soon its as it becomes evident that in spite of his huge leaps the dog is overhauling him or it he la Is headed beaded off by another iother ni dog he comes to a helt and prepares to light fight for his life like the gallant old man that ho be Is As a matter of choice the fighting kangaroo when he Is balled up 1 likes to get his back against a treo tree but when overtaken in the open he just makes tile the best beat ot of a bad job at first sight one would ahlai think that nen even the biggest and strongest old man kangaroo had not cot tile the ghost ot of a chance when it came to a tussle with a powerful animal such as the regular kangaroo luin dog and as a mat ter of met fact when the said ilog dog Is an old hand at the business arid and up to all tho the tricks of the marsupial the final result Is a fore foregone gome conclusion the kangaroo standa sta up to tight with tola his for rearms carma held forward and hla his five fingered hands spread out ready to clutch much in the same dame way as abes does a wrestler the inexperienced dog doe guided only by hla his natural instincts circles round the kangaroo and when he thinks he sees bees an opening flies straight ct at hla his throat hut but the wily quarry by a skilful movement words wards of the threatening tangs fangs and at the canie time thae imprisons the dog in a vice like ilke grit grip with his forearms then thea bringing up IP one 0 ot of his old hind feet the middle too toe ot of which la Is armed with a formidable toenail toe nail barong and sharp like a priming kuke lie he allta I 1 ts t the he unal ott dog open anit and the fight Is ended the well trained and experienced kangaroo dos dog how however e ver wll ell knows the peril of the kangaroos kanBa roos embrace and watching his opportunity makes a sudden budden all sreng xing selling seizing one ona of the old mans forearms tor earma in his powerful jaws with a cruel wrench he be breaks the bone and not until he has disabled the remaining arm does he attempt tel rapt to pull down his victim by tho the throat with both forearms disabled the unhappy dangl no longer able to protect his most vulnerable pot la in speedily pulled down and his frantic endeavors to bring bt his cutting too toe into play are unavailing and whether there be one or two dogs when the kangaroo isonoe I 1 once seized i and held down by the throat the end la is in eight makes good soup tho the white hunter generally takes the kangaroo skin akin as a trophy also the tall of which excellent soups and curries are made though some folks detect a curious tang of musk about the delicacy the rest of 0 the carcass to 3 left for the black follows fellows who are not over fastidious in their eating seated on the veranda after a hard day tit in the saddle smoking the pipe of pence peace arid and watching the great yellow moon rise through tho the purple twilight until its rays invest the ghostly gum trees with a halo ot at quivering ng silver allver while ahtie the weird cry of the more pork ushers lit in tho the reign of night the sportsmen fall fal I 1 to the well worn conundrum Is tho the han kangaroo doomed to melt away like the aborigines before the march of civilization there seems to be much conflicting evidence on the subject A man mail from a well watered cattle station eiyo ya they are increasing i but another fr from om an upcountry up country sheep run flatly contradicts him and so it goes on truth generally lien iler between extremes and it may well be that at as in the case of our own coal supply which scientists tell us will be ba exhausted in one hundred years there la Is no immediate cause for alarm |