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Historical Records of New Zealand South

"Extraordinary Animal Of The Kangaroo Species."

"Extraordinary Animal Of The Kangaroo Species."

The "Sydney Packet" (Owen, master), on her return trip from New Zealand, 1831, reports, for the information of the Collector of Customs (Sydney), one of her gangs, quartered in Dusky Bay, discovered an extraordinary animal of the kangaroo species. They were boating in a cove at a sequestered part of the inlet, and got in amongst ledges of rocks running up to the edge of the bush on a plain surface. The animal was perched on the edge of the bush nibbling the foliage. It stood on its hind legs, the lower part of the body curved into a sharply-pointed tail, the end of which trailed behind, like the skirts of a robe. In that way they calculated it stood at least 30 feet high, allowing five feet for the drag in the tail. They confirmed these calculations by measuring the height of the trees at which they had seen it nibbling. They watched for some time before making their presence known, and, being to windward, succeeded all the better. They saw it break down a heavy branch with seeming ease, turning it over, and tilting it up in search of the food. On discovering their presence, it regarded them attentively, and then, seemingly page 174Satisfied they were not to be trusted made a spring forward to the edge of the rocks. In that one leap it covered twenty yards without making any apparently extra effort. Landing on all fours, it instantly re-erected itself, and, with a tremendous bound, dived into the water. Being somewhat dubious of its purposes, the sealers bent to their oars, and got out of the way. They lost sight of the animal for a couple of minutes. When next seen, it was ploughing its way down the sound at a wonderful speed, shearing the water asunder into fan-tailed ripples, visible in that and other effects from one side of the sound to the other. Whatever this animal may have been, three definite conclusions are based on these observations—namely, that it is herbivorous, amphibious, and its great strength lies in the tail.