The colonists take great numbers of these animals by setting snares in their feeding-places: to catch or kill them in any other way is not easy, for they are exceedingly timid, and always on their guard. But the Australian savage displays great skill in hunting them; however dull and heavy he may be at all other times, he brightens directly there is a chance of meeting with a kangaroo. Accompanied by his wives and children, he watches for hours near the spot where he knows one is grazing; and at these times he stands so still, that if it were not for his quick-glancing eyes which move from side to side incessantly, the dark motionless form might be taken for some half-burnt stump of a tree, such as is seen every day in Australia.

When the kangaroo comes to the place, it stands erect, and looks and listens as intently as the hunter; and a little head peers out from the pouch, as if to inquire if anything has alarmed the mother.

But

neither mother nor child concerns itself about the black log yonder, though it is long before the cautious creature feels quite secure, and many times yet will she leave off feeding and stand up to look round. All this time neither the hunter nor those who are with him make the least sound or motion; but the women and children lie close upon the ground, hidden amongst the long grass and bushes.

It is not till the kangaroo begins to graze in full security, and to fondle and play with her little one, that the hunter ventures to advance, very slowly and stealthily, moving no part of his body but the legs, until he is near enough to aim a spear. As soon as it is heard whistling through the air, the whole party start up with shouts, and run after the poor wounded animal, which is trying in vain to escape from its pursuers by leaping high and far. For the spear, still sticking in its body, encumbers every movement, till, faint from loss of blood, it turns and sets its back

against a tree, prepared by a desperate effort to seize the hunter in its fore-paws, and rend him open with the claws of the hind-feet. He is much too wily, however, to expose himself to such a danger, and keeps at a safe distance, throwing spears until the kangaroo falls, utterly exhausted. The poor little one perishes with the mother, and then there is great feasting.

The fur of most kinds of kangaroos is brown, or reddish-brown; but on the west coast of Australia, there is a small species covered with beautiful lightblue fur, which is crossed upon the back with black bands. Next to the kangaroos, the most beautiful marsupial animals are found amongst those which inhabit trees divided by writers on Natural History into two classes, the Phalangers, and the Petaurists. But Australians have other names for them" Ringtailed Opossums," " Squirrels," "Flying Opossums, and many more; for there are many different species, some smaller than a mouse, and others larger than a cat. Several of the Phalanger family resemble the American Opossum, in having a tail which curls itself round anything it can lay hold of; they are pretty furry creatures, with large eyes suited to animals which lie still in the holes of trees all day, and come out at night to feed and frisk among the branches.

But it is amongst the Petaurists that we must look for the prettiest of these dwellers in trees, the Flying Opossums; they are covered with beautiful soft fur-brown above, and white or yellow underneath-have a handsome bushy tail, and are most graceful in all their movements. They rarely come to the ground, but leap surprising distances from tree to tree, buoyed up by a skin, which extends from the fore to the hind legs; but they are not rightly named flying opossums, for although this skin-sail of theirs is something like a bat's wing, they cannot fly as a bat does. In moonlight nights, they are seen running along the boughs in pursuit of

insects, and feeding on the young leaves or sucking honey out of the flowers of the gum-tree, which renews its blossoms with almost every rising sun, and thus offers an inexhaustible store of sweets, not only to the flying opossums, but to the many honey-eating birds of Australia.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE BEAVER.

THE Beaver possesses a shape and limbs which are exactly fitted for its manner of life, and to procure its food.

A beaver when walking upon dry land appears both clumsy and awkward. Its fore-legs are much shorter than its hind-legs; its heels are turned outwards; and it touches the ground with only the toes of the fore-feet, but with the whole sole of its hind-feet. It drags after it a broad flat tail, half as long as the body, and covered with scales, so that it goes waddling along in a most ungraceful manner.

Beavers are formed to live more in the water than on land, and thus the great tail is very useful, both as a paddle and a rudder; it helps them onwards, and guides them in their course. The manner in which their heels turn out helps them greatly in swimming; and they can spread out their feet wide, like the webbed feet of a duck. Their strong hind-legs enable them to swim fast and well; and their short front-paws are most handy in gathering up mud and stones, and carrying sticks. Their front teeth are formed like chisels, and with these they can cut down branches, with which they make their houses, and on the bark of which they feed.

Beavers are found in America and also in the northern parts of Europe, but in the former country they are

by far the most numerous. They once existed in some parts of England; and in the Welsh language there is a particular word, meaning "broad-tailed," still remaining, though the animals themselves have long since disappeared from the country. It is a curious fact, that the habits of the European beaver differ from those of the American species, the former not being, as a rule, gregarious like the latter.

In Europe they generally live alone, and burrow in the ground, while in America we find them in large communities. Some naturalists have been led by this difference to believe that the two species of beavers are distinct; but there are solitary beavers in America, and one or two communities of beavers in Europe, and it seems that the variations in their general habits arise from the different circumstances in which they are placed. In Europe, by the neighbourhood of man, and the cultivation of the land, the number of beavers has been thinned, and the means of exercising their faculty of building has been taken from them; and so they have become what is called " burrowing" or " hermit" beavers. In America, however, they have room enough to form populous villages, and this they do, though only in the unsettled parts of the country. Those which are near the settlements of man have very much the same habits as the European animals.

The beaver has no weapon of defence, and is not clever at escaping from his enemies. His peculiar instinct is directed to the object of providing himself with a habitation, and storing up the food necessary for his support during the winter. In this work he exhibits the most wonderful sagacity; and the operations of beavers, where they live together in numbers and unite in the work of construction, are most curious and interesting.

During the summer, the beaver lives secluded by the margins of lakes or rivers, burrowing in the banks, which

he leaves only in search of his food or to indulge in the pleasure of bathing; but, as the autumn advances, he begins to look out for society, and to make preparations for the winter. With this view he associates himself with a band of his fellow-beavers, sometimes amounting in number to two or three hundred; and the whole body immediately set to work, either to repair their old habitations, or to construct new buildings on the same plan.

The situations in which the beavers build are very various; sometimes they take up their abode in a pond or lake; but they generally make choice of a running stream as being more suitable for the conveyance of materials. When the water in the stream is not deep enough, they begin by throwing a dam across it, below the part which they intend to occupy. In slow rivulets this is made nearly straight, but when the current is strong, it is formed with a curve bending outwards against the stream. This dam is constructed of driftwood, of the branches of willows, birch, and poplars, cemented together with mud and stones. It is very broad at the bottom, and gradually narrows till it reaches the level of the water, which it is built to keep up; and it is so strong, that a man may cross the river by it in perfect safety.

The sticks which are used vary in size, from the thickness of a man's finger to that of his ankle. They are mostly obtained from the neighbouring woods, where they are cut with a dexterity truly astonishing. A beaver will lop off with its teeth at a single effort a stem of the thickness of a common walking-stick, as cleanly as if it had been done by a gardener's pruningknife. When compelled to have recourse to the larger trunks, it gnaws them round and round; always taking care that they shall fall in the direction of the water, in order, as much as possible, to save carriage. As soon as the tree is felled, the beavers commence lopping off