. The boy travellers in Australasia : adventures of two youths in a journey to the Sandwich, Marquesas, Society, Samoan and Feejee islands, and through the colonies of New Zealand, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. THE MANATEE, OR DrcONC. hippopotamus. But these big fellows are all extinct; there are onehundred and ten species now, and the largest of them does not exceedtwo hundred pounds in weight. The largest of the marsupials is the kangaroo, and the next in sizeis the wallaby. There are eight species of large kangaroo, inhabitingdifferent parts of the co
. The boy travellers in Australasia : adventures of two youths in a journey to the Sandwich, Marquesas, Society, Samoan and Feejee islands, and through the colonies of New Zealand, New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia. THE MANATEE, OR DrcONC. hippopotamus. But these big fellows are all extinct; there are onehundred and ten species now, and the largest of them does not exceedtwo hundred pounds in weight. The largest of the marsupials is the kangaroo, and the next in sizeis the wallaby. There are eight species of large kangaroo, inhabitingdifferent parts of the country, the prince of them all being the red kan-garoo of South Australia. Then come seventeen species of small kan-garoos {Halmaturus), weighing from ten to fifteen pounds; and then27* 422 THE BOY TRAVELLEKS IN AUSTRALASIA. three species of silky - haired kangaroos {Onychog(dea\ inhabiting theinterior of the continent. They weigh eight or ten pounds, and areabout the size of a common rabbit; then come five species of hare-kan-garoos, live of jerboa-kangaroos, and then the rat-kangaroos, the bandi-. AT HOME ON THE NORTH COAST. coots, opossums, rabbit-rats, and numerous other small animals. Wellgo back to the large kangaroos, where we began. In former times, when the only human inhabitants of Australiawere the savage blacks, the kangaroo was kept from increasing too rap-idly, through the combined efforts of the dingoes and the natives. Thedingo is the Australian wild dog, and closely allied to the wolf andjackal, of which he is certainly the first-cousin. He is carnivorous, andfond of sheep, and was therefore poisoned and otherwise killed off bythe settlers, to prevent his depredations upon the flocks. A bounty wasplaced on his scalp, and he has been greatly reduced in numbers. Thenatives have likewise died off since the settlement of tlie country; andwith their natural enemies removed, the kangaroos, which live Avhollvon grass, have increased till they have become a nui
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