Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 414 pages of information about Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2.

Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 414 pages of information about Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2.
many times until the whistling spear penetrates the devoted animal; then the wood rings with shouts; women and children all join pell-mell in the chase; the kangaroo, weak from the loss of blood, and embarrassed by the long spear which catches in the brushwood as it flies, at length turns on its pursuers, and to secure its rear places its back against a tree, preparing at the same time to rend open the breast and entrails of its pursuer by seizing him in its fore-paws and kicking with its hind legs and claws; but the wily native keeps clear of so murderous an embrace, and from the distance of a few yards throws spears into its breast until the exhausted animal falls and is then soon despatched; when, with the assistance of his wives, he takes its forelegs over his left, and the hind legs over his right shoulder, and totters with his burden to some convenient resting place, where they can enjoy their meal.

HUNTING IN PARTIES IN THE BUSH.

The chase of the kangaroo conducted by a number of natives is a much more lively and noisy affair, but it is not to my taste nearly so interesting.  When a single native hunts you see the whole energy and perseverance of which a savage is capable called forth, and his graceful movements, cautious advance, the air of quietude and repose which pervade his frame when his prey is alarmed, all involuntarily call forth your admiration and compel you to murmur to yourself, “how beautiful, how very beautiful.”  But where a party hunt there is more bustle and animation in the scene; and this kind of hunting is called “Yowart-a-kaipoon,” or kangaroo-surrounding.  The animals which are to be killed by a party who proceed for this purpose are either surprised in a thick bushy place, where they have retired to lie down in the heat of the day, or else in an open plain; in the former case they are tracked to their retreat, and the party then encircling it first ascertain that they have not quitted it; as each native takes up his position he gives a low whistle, and when the blockade is completed they fire the bushes; the frighted animals now fly from the flames in the direction of the open plains, but no sooner do they reach the outskirts of the wood than the bushes are fired in the direction in which they are running, and they are driven back by loud calls and terrific cries, which augment their terror, and they run wildly about; until, becoming maddened by fear, they make a rush through the midst of their enemies, who allow but few of their victims to escape.

IN THE PLAINS.

When kangaroos are surrounded upon a plain the point generally chosen is an open bottom surrounded by wood; each native has his position assigned him by some of the elder ones, and a great deal of art and caution are sometimes required to gain it; for this end they avail themselves of every inequality of the ground, of every bush, of every shrub, and as there are so many witnesses of their skill and cunning they put

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Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.