MACROPUS MAJOR, Shaw.

Great Grey Kangaroo.

Spec. Char.—Macropus vellere corporis, superné, e cinereo Jusco, apud antibrachios et abdomen canescenti-cinereo, anti-
pedibus, pedibus posticis, caudeque apice nigris ; linea albescente supra labium per genas excurrente.

Descr.—All the fur on the upper surface uniform greyish brown above, passing into grisly grey on the arm and
under surface ; a faint line of greyish white above the upper lip and along the sides of the face ; hands, feet,
and tip of the tail black.

Male. Female.
feet. inches. feet. inches.

Length from the nose to the extremity ofthe tal . . . . ... 7 5 2
4 Oa i te i ge ee oe 2 eh
a », tarsus and toes, including the nail . 1 3 1 1

i Salmeand: hands inchudimes the nase) 9 ge 6 10L

a », face from the tip of the nose to the base of the ear 9 8

5 9 CAN hee SRR ee op oi ea aes ei te ee ete eek) ene OL 5

’

Macropus giganteus, Shaw, Nat. Misc., pl. 33.

Didelphis gigantea, Linn. Syst. Nat. Gmel., p- 109.—Schreb., t. 154.

Kanguroo, Cook’s Voy., vol. iii. p- 677. pl. 20.—Phill. Voy., pl. in p. 106.—White’s Voy., pl. in pe 272,

Macropus major, Shaw, Gen. Zool., vol. i. p- 805. pl. 115.—Cook’s First Voy., vol. iv, p- 45. pl. 2.—Desm. Nouv,
Dict. d’Hist. Nat., tom. xvii. p- 33.

Kangurus labiatus, Geoff. Encyel., pl. 21. fig. 4.—Desm. Ency. Méth. Mamm., De 243:

Boomer, Forester, Old Man Kangaroo of the Colonists, Bundaary of the Aborigines of the Liverpool range.

 

Turre can be little doubt of the present species being that noticed by our celebrated navigator Cook, in his voyage
round the world in 1770; and as I conceive all information connected with this early-known species will be interesting,
I shall commence my account of its history with a quotation from the above-mentioned work.

“On Friday, June the twenty-second, while stationed for a short time on the south-east coast of Australia,” says Captain
Cook, “a party, who were engaged in shooting pigeons for the use of the sick of the ship, saw an animal, which they described
to be ‘as large as a greyhound, of a slender make, of a mouse-colour, and extremely swift.’ The following day the same kind
of animal was again seen by a great many other people. On the twenty-fourth it was seen by Captain Cook himself, who,
walking at a little distance from the shore, observed a quadruped, which he thought bore some resemblance to a greyhound,
and was of a light mouse-colour, with a long tail, and which he should have taken for a kind of wild dog, had not its extra-
ordinary manner of leaping, instead of running, convinced him of the contrary. Mr. Banks also obtained a transient view of
it, and immediately concluded it to be an animal perfectly new and undescribed.

“The sight of a creature so extraordinary could not fail to excite, in the mind of a philosophic observer, the most ardent
wishes for a complete examination. These were at length gratified; Mr. Gore, one of the associates in the expedition of
Captain Cook, having been so fortunate as to shoot one in the course of a few days.”

Such is the earliest notice to be found relative to this fine species, of which living examples were a few years after-
wards brought to Europe, and have from time to time formed an interesting addition to our menageries. It is however
remarkable, that though it has now been introduced for so long a period, all attempts at naturalizing it have hitherto
proved futile; still, from my own observations of the animal in a state of nature, I am led to believe that a small
degree of perseverance is alone requisite to effect so desirable an object. Should I be so fortunate as to interest
any who have the means, as well as the inclination, in the furtherance of this object, we may yet hope to see our large
parks and forests graced with the presence of this highly ornamental and singular animal. That it would bear the
severities of our winters is almost beyond a doubt, since in Van Diemen’s Land, among other places, it resorts to
the bleak, wet, and frequently snow-capped summit of Mount Wellington. The kind of country which appears most
suitable to its nature, consists of low grassy hills and plains, skirted by thin open forests of brushwood, to the latter
of which, especially on the continent of Australia, it resorts for shelter from the oppressive heat of the mid-day sun.
Although the numbers of this large species are becoming greatly reduced in consequence of the intrusion of civilized
man, and though it has disappeared from those localities where he has taken up his abode, accompanied by his
vast flocks and herds, still the immense tracts of sterile unwatered country which characterize Australia, and present
physical obstacles to cultivation, will, in my opinion, for a long period afford a sufficient asylum for the preservation
of the race.

It enjoys a wide range of habitat, being spread over the colony of New South Wales, the interior to the northward
as far as it has yet been penetrated, as well as the whole of the intermediate country between New South Wales and
South Australia, where I observed it tolerably abundant; but I am induced to believe this latter district is almost the
boundary of its range westward, although, on this point, I may be in error.

I should consider it as not, strictly speaking, a grégarious animal, as I have never seen more than six or eight
together, and have more frequently met with it singly or in pairs. Its senses of smelling and hearing are so exquisite
that it is extremely difficult of approach without detection, and to effect this it is always necessary to advance against
the wind. It browses upon various kinds of grasses, herbs and low shrubs, a kind of food which renders its flesh well-
tasted and nutritive. The early dawn and evening are the periods at which it feeds, and at which it is most certain
to be met with.

Although hunted and frequently killed by the Dingo, its most formidable antagonist has hitherto been the Aborigine,
who employs several modes of obtaining it ; sometimes stealing upon it with the utmost caution under covert of the trees
and bushes, until it is within the range of his spear, which is generally thrown with unerring aim; at other times,
having discovered their retreat, the natives unite in a party, and, forming a large circle gradually, close in upon them