Among the Kangaroos.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXII, Issue XIII, 26 March 1904, Page 60

Among the Kangaroos.

(By

Frank S. Smith,

Victoria.)

Tn my wanderings over New South Wales and Queensland I have come across any number of places where kangaroos were plentiful, but on a station in the extreme north-west of New South Wales I discovered what was apparently the kangaroo’s paradise. I was on this station for several months, and during that time I had kangaroo-hunting enough to last for a lifetime. The station covered an extent of nearly a million acres. It consisted of fifteen ‘’blocks,” ten miles square apiece; each block therefore containing 100 square miles. A few of these immense paddocks had bee» subdivided, but most of them were of the original size. It was one of the biggest stations in New South Wales—big enough to make an English county out of—and the greater part of it was covered with scrub

and brush timber, and swarmed with kangaroos, emus and other native animals. So that the station, in spite of its huge area, only carried about 80,000 sheep. When I was on the station the season had been a good one. Grass was abundant. and everything looked fresh and green. The dams were full of water, and all the creeks (rivulets) were running; it was a good time both for sheep and kangaroo. Fifty men were employed constantly in riding round the paddocks, attending to the sheep, repairing the fences, and. so on. There were about 200 head of horses kept; and, in a place where “the next paddock” meant six or eight miles away, no one ever dreamed of walking. I was given a couple of good horses, and, as I could ride fairly well, the first thing I did vras io have a run after kangaroos.

There were thousands of them, ranging from the little kangaroo-rat—not much bigger titan his namesake—to the huge, red, “old-man” kangaroo, standing from six to seven feet high. In between these two extremes there were brown or black kangaroos, four to five feet high, wallabies, from three to four feet, and padyrnelons, rather smaller than Ute wallaby. Some sorts lived right in the scrub, only stealing out into the open at night; while others had their home on the open plains, retiring to the scrub for shade sometimes, or for shelter when molested. They all had two features in common —that is, they were all in good condition and could run like deer. To talk of a kangaroo “running,” however, is, as everybody knows, a perversion of the term. Even when he is quietly feeding the kangaroo hops, and I have never seen a kangaroo move one hind leg alone, except when fighting or playing. Even in covering the smallest distance he hops, just like a sparrow. But when he is in a hurry, when a well-mounted horseman and a couple of good dogs are at his heels—well, then you see what a Imp is like when it is done properly. As you gain on him he puts forth all his powers, and his flying leaps over the soft pandy ground are something prodigious. 1 have at various times measured these jumps, and have found them range from 20 to 30 feet, with an odd one over the 30 feet. In one of the out-paddocks, through which a big creek rail, the kangaroos were becoming more than usually numerous. It was one of the best-grassed paddocks on the station, and that probably accounted for the fact. But the grass was wanted for the ewes and lambs, so half a dozen of us were given a few days to hurry the kangaroos off the place. As the paddock was forty miles away from the homestead, we took provisions for four days with us on a packhorse, and half a dozen rugs to sleep in. In that beautiful climate no other protection was necessary at night. The weather wag dry and warm, but not too hot, which ig often the case. We set off at sunrise, which was about foui' o’clock, and the six of us, who were all splendidly mounted, looked like a small Boer commando. We had eight dogs, most of them experts at the game, and a couple of Winchester repeating rifles. We couldn’t go very fast, on account of the paekhorse, who was well loaded; at any rate, we wanted to keep our horses fresh. It was therefore well on towards noon when we reached the bank of the creek where we were to pitch our camp.

A six hours’ ride had given us the keenest of appetites, so the packhorse was

soon relieved of his load and hobbled out to graze. A fire was lit, on which a couple of billies full of the creek water were <oon swinging. Cold roast mutton, bread, and brownie—bread with a little dripping ami a few currants added before baking—formed our lunch. The tea of course had no milk in it. We only had

one cow on the station, and the scanty supply of milk it gave was religiously preserved for two little children. After lunch and a smoke we set to work.

During our ride we had come across several mobs of kangaroo, and had great work keeping the dogs off them. As it was. some of the dogs were footsore and weary. These were tied up at the camp. The six of us and five dogs then set off along the creek. I had one of the rifles, and at starting had a capital shot at a big "old man” that got up about fifty yards ahead of us. Shooting kangaroos is very tricky work, but I had had a bit of experience, and the second shot rolled him over. Then we got into a big mob. fhe rifles were dropped into holsters, and off we went. The dogs soon got amongst them, and there was a great scatter. The rifle hampered me a bit, so I son gave up the main hunt and busied myself finishing off the big kangaroos that were bailed up by the dogs. Two of our dogs were adepts at pulling down kangaroos, but the other three were not so good. A first-class dog jumps at the kangaroo just as the animal is commencing his bound, with the result that the ’roo topples head over heels and either breaks his neck or flounders on the ground. A law dog often tries to grab his prey as it is landing, and usually gets bowled over for his pains, or else the kangaroo jumps again and gets away.

The mob included several ‘‘old men,” big old males, who. declining to be bustled, every now and then made for a dump of scrub or small trees, put their backs to it, and held the dogs at bay. Here again the inexperienced dog suffers. He rushes at the kangaroo, and. before the dog knows what is the matter. he is lying several yards away from the ’roo with his flank badly torn. The kangaroo has clasped him in his arms, and has dealt him a blow with his powerful hind foot, which is armed with a terrible claw. The kangaroo draws one foot up to his body, gets it between him and the dog, and then shoots it out, generally with disastrous results to the dog. A dog who has once been “embraced” by a kangaroo never makes a frontal attack again. He skirmishes around until he can get at his foe some other way, or else retreats gracefully from the field, or, finally, he barks —at a respectful distance —until assistance arrives.

It was our object to destroy as many of the “old men” as we could, so as to frighten the mobs effectually and send them off to fresh country. Several times I came across a dog with an “old man” stuck up. A stroke with a thick waddy soon despatched him. The country was fairly open, out from the creek, and my mates were sending the kangaroos helter-skelter everywhere, tine stockman — a light-weight — was mounted on a speedy mare, and I saw him ride down a kangaroo in fine style. For three-quarters of a mile it was a ding-dong go. The ’roo jumped splendidly, and, as there was very little scrub and the going good, the rider sent the

mare at her top speed. She entered into the spirit of the affair and extended every muscle. At last I saw the stockman rise in the stirrups and his hand go up. The mare had caught the ’roo. Down came the whip-handle with unerring accuracy, and the 'roo toppled over. There was a lieautiful course between our liest dog and a small but very fast kangaroo. It was over a quarter of a mile of open, and the ’roo was making for some dense scrub, where the dog would have lost her. As they neared the scrub the dog made desperate efforts to reach his quarry, but the kangaroo, jumping superbly, seemed to fly over the ground. A little watercourse was in

their path. The ’roo flew it like a swallow. and the dog. a half-second later, bounded over it like a deer. I think the 'roo would have got away, but it landed badly and stumbled, and before it could recover the dog was on it. We were all weary and tired when we got back to the camp. One of the dogs was badly cut about by a kangaroo, and had to be carried in. But we had given the ’roos a great shaking up. After tea we sat around the fire, and tell ing yarns; and at ten each of us wrap ped a rug around himself and curled up under a clump of scrub. It was a cool, still night, and the first thing I reniem her after turning in w’as a pair of hob-

Lies landing on my back—a polite inti mation from the cook that the breakfast was ready. The next two days the perfi.i mance was repeated, ami when we leave the camp for the station we feel very satisfied with our work. A good number of 'roos have been killed, and the mobs have l»een scattered far and wide. One of our horses is lame, one dog is so badly hurt that we have to shoot him. and anotner is limping: but there is no other damage It is late at night when six tired men ride into the homestead paddock. and. after a drink of tea and a slice of brownie — for the cook is in bed - retire for a good sleep.