The Living Animals of the World, Volume I: Mammals

of the World The Living Animals352 Some considerable amount of obscurity is associated with the prime origin of the animal's almost world-wide title of "Kangaroo." It is most commonly accepted as representing the native name for the creature in that Queensland district from whence it was first reported later investigations and by Captain Cook. No enquiries have, however, in any way established the correctness of this hypothesis, those explorers who have made a special study of the dialects and habits of the aboriginal inhabitants entirely failing to elicit anything even remotely coinciding with the name in question. It has, in fact, been reluctantly concluded by one of the most experienced Queensland authorities on these matters that the name originated as a mere miscomprehension of the information elicited from the natives. Verbal communication with the native tribes under the most favourable circumstances is liable to a vast amount of misunderstanding, and where other than linguistic experts are present it frequently happens that much mongrel or "pidgin " gets mixed up with the native terms. English Assuming this to have been the case in the present instance, it has been suggested that as it ffioto by W. Savillc-Kcnt, F.Z.S.] [Milford-on-Sea. the name of Kangaroo, or " Kanguroo," BBOWX TREE-KANGAROO. was originally spelt, implied some form of

This species represents the group in Xorth Queensland. negation of the knowledge which the enquiring white man was seeking to elicit, or, maybe, partly even a phonetic and parrot-like repetition of the constantly recurring query that was doubt-tell of the Endeavour's commission, such as " Can you " less current among the " handy men " arrivals me this or that concerning the many unfamiliar objects that greeted the eyes of the new in this strange land. The writer retains a vivid recollection of a closely analogous manner in which the rural inhabitants of Vigo Bay, on the Spanish coast, appropriated a common phrase used by the crew of the yacht with whom he landed there. Having evidently noted that the two words " I say " prefaced the majority of Jack-tar's speeches, this catch-phrase was adopted and applied by them as a greeting and as a reply to almost every interrogation in dumb-show or otherwise that was addressed to them. An unknown animal submitted to these rustic Solons would doubtless have been dubbed the " I say "; and had the land been a new one say, somewhere in the South Seas that name would probably have stuck to it. Applying this interpretation to the kangaroo, and bearing in mind the fondness of the Australian native to duplicate his or name-words or syllables e.g. ivagga-wagga, debil-debil, and so forth the " Kang-you-you " a closely resembling phonetic expression would present itself to the native mind as a much more correct rendering of the simpler " Can you " or " Kang you " which he had picked up as a catch-phrase from the Endeavour's crew. In the absence, at all events, of any more rational interpretation of the mystery, this one would seem to merit consideration. is being speedily dethroned from the dominant position it originally While the kangaroo occupied in the indigenous Australian fauna, praiseworthy and highly successful attempts have been made to acclimatise this marsupial on British soil. At Tring Park, Lord Kothschild's estate, Woburn Abbey, and elsewhere, troops of these graceful creatures may be seen under conditions of happiness and liberty scarcely inferior to those by which they are environed in their native " bush."

Photo by Ottomar Anschutz, Berlin.

THE GREAT KANGAROO LEAPING.

In the posture in which this animal is represented the extraordinary size and strength of the hind limbs and tail are displayed to the best advantage. Both features are connected with the animal’s marvellous powers of leaping.

UNIV. OF

CALIFORNIA

UNIV. OF

CALIFORNIA

Marsupials and Monotremes 353

Of smaller members of the Kangaroo Family, there are some thirty distinct forms, popularly known in Australia as WALLABIES, WALLAROOS,

PADDY-MELONS, POTOROOS, KANGAROO-HARES,

KANGAROO-RATS, etc. The wallabies, which represent the most important group with regard to their larger size and economic utility, number some fourteen or fifteen species, and are distinguished, -with relation more especially to their habitats or peculiar structure, as ROCK-, BRUSH-TAIL, and SPUR- TAIL WALLABIES, etc. Among the rock-wallabies the yellow-footed species from South Australia is undoubtedly one of the. handsomest as well as the largest member of its group, the uniform .grey characteristic of the majority of its members being in this instance represented by an elegantly striped and banded form, in which the several tints of brown, yellow, black, and white are pleasingly interblended. A very fine example of this wallaby was included in the valuable collection of animals, formerly at Windsor, recently presented to the Zoological Society by His Majesty King Edward, and is now on view at the Regent's Park. The successful stalking of rock-wallabies in their native fastnesses entails no mean amount of patience and agility. Although these animals are so abundant in favoured localities as to make hard-beaten tracks to and fro betwixt their rock-dwellings and their pasture-grounds, one may traverse the country in broad daylight without catching a glimpse of a single individual. One species, about the size of a large rabbit, is very plentiful among the rocky bastion-like hills that border the Ord River, which flows into Cambridge Gulf, in Western Australia. Efforts to stalk examples in broad daylight proved fruitless; but by sallying out a little before daybreak, so as to .arrive at their feeding-grounds while the light was still dim, the writer succeeded in securing several specimens. Many of these rock-wallabies Photo by D. Le Souef] [Melbourne. Are notable for the length, fine texture, and pleas- TREE-KANGAROOS. ing tints of their fur, their skins on such account Examples acclimatised in the Melbourne Zoological being highly esteemed for the composition of Gardens. carriage-rugs and other furry articles.

Of the larger brush or scrub varieties, the species known as the BLACK WALLABY is the most familiar form. It is particularly abundant in the Southern Australian States, and also in Tasmania. Its flesh is excellent eating, and, dressed and served up in the orthodox manner of jugged hare, can scarcely be distinguished from that toothsome dish. Some of the smaller species, such as the hare- and rat-kangaroos or potoroos, are, as their names denote, of no larger dimensions than the familiar rodents from which they are popularly named. Several of these smaller species, including notably the potoroo, or kangaroo-rat of New South Wales, .are addicted to paying marked attention to the settlers' gardens, and, being to a large extent 45

root-feeders, have acquired a special predilection for the newly planted or more fully matured potato crops. The most abnormal group of the Kangaroo Family is undoubtedly that of the TREE-KANGAROOS, formerly supposed to have been limited in its distribution to the island of New Guinea, but which has within recent years been found to be represented by one or more species in Northern Queensland. At the Melbourne Zoo they have been found, except in the coldest weather, to thrive well in the open—a moderate-sized tree, with a small fenced-in enclosure around it, being admirably suited to their requirements, at the same time providing a most instructive exhibition of their peculiar forms and idiosyncrasies. Seen at its best, however, the tree-kangaroo, or “boongarry,”

as it is known amongst the Queensland natives, is a most clumsy, melancholy-looking beast, which has apparently found itself “up a tree,” not as the outcome of its personal predilections, but owing to the force majeure of untoward pressure in the form either of relentlessly persecuting enemies or the failure of its normal terrestrial commissariat. Compared with the graceful and superlatively agile tree-frequenting phalangers, between whom and the ordinary kangaroos it has been sometimes, but erroneously, regarded as representing a connecting-link, the boongarry presents a most ungainly contrast. Its climbing powers are of the slowest and most awkward description, the whole of its energies being concentrated on its endeavour to preserve its balance and to retain a tight hold upon the branches of the trees it frequents, and to which it clings with such tenacity with its long sharp claws that it can with difficulty be detached. In its wild state, moreover, these claws can be very effectively used as weapons of defence; and hence the natives, with whom the animal is highly esteemed as an article of food, are careful to give it its quietus with their clubs or waddies before venturing to handle it. The tree-kangaroos inhabit the densest parts of the forests or “scrubs” of New Guinea and tropical Queensland, and appear to confine their movements chiefly to the trees of moderate size, or the lower branches only of the taller ones. The species which constitutes the most natural known connecting-link between the typical Kangaroos and the family of the Phalangers, next described, is the FIVE-TOED RAT-KANGAROO, or POTOROO. As its name implies, it is a small creature of rat-like aspect and dimensions, and possesses, like a rat, a long, cylindrical, naked, scaly tail. It is the structure of the feet, however, that constitutes the important distinction. In place of the four toes only to the hind limbs it possesses the full complement of five, and the first toe, moreover, is set farther back, and is opposable for grasping purposes. This animal is from Queensland.

Photo by York & Son] [Notting Hill.

GAIMARD’S RAT-KANGAROO.

A species named after the French naturalist, Gaimard.

Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S., Milford-on-Sea.

RAT-KANGAROO FROM NEW SOUTH WALES.

One of the small jerboa-like species.

Marsupials and Monotremes 355

THE PHALANGERS.

The Phalanger Family of Marsupials, which next invites attention, is constituted of animals especially adapted to lead an arboreal life, though among themselves they exhibit very considerable structural variations. The species usually placed at the head of this group is the essentially droll and in many respects abnormal form known as the

KOALA, or AUSTRALIAN NATIVE

BEAR. Its little podgy tailless body, short thick-set head, and round tufted ears lend some countenance perhaps to the ursine analogy; but there the likeness ends. The koala is limited in its distribution to the southeastern region of the Australian Continent, and is there found inhabiting the loftiest gum-trees, on the leaves and flowers of which it almost exclusively feeds. Compared with the opossum and squirrel-like phalangers, the koala is a very slow and sedentary little [Milford-on-Sea. animal, remaining stationary KOALA, OR AUSTRALIAN NATIVE BEAR AND CUB. the in which illustration of the way female koalas carry their young securelyin and browsing upon the An excellent on their backs. perched leaves of the same gum-tree for days or even weeks at a stretch. Taking advantage of this home-staying propensity, examples are established, with full liberty to wander at will among the large gum-trees, in the Melbourne Zoological Gardens, and have never abused the confidence reposed in them by droll and delightful surreptitiously absconding. The young koalas in particular make the most of household pets, speedily becoming attached to and following their owners about the premises, or contentedly settling down to the possession of an allotted corner of the verandah, in which an improvised perch has been erected and a constant supply of its favourite gum-leaves is daily assured. One such example, kept in Brisbane, Queensland, furnished the writer with the material for the photograph on this page; also of another one that illustrated in an interesting manner the very singular attitude assumed by the animal when asleep. Instead of creeping into the hollow trunk or spout of a gum or other tree, as the opossums and other phalangers are wont to his supporting branch, and, -tucking in histo do, the little " bear " simply sticks tight head and ears and limbs, converts himself into an apparently homogeneous rounded mass of fur or moss, and, thus disguised, peacefully sleeps. Seen at some little distance, in fact, none but a trained eye could distinguish this sleeping bear from one of the round woody excrescences or bunches of misletoe-like parasitic growths that are of common occurrence on the trees in every gum forest. In this way the little creature secures immunity from the