t is their constant custom, as the
cold weather approaches, to seek a warmer climate, by following
the sun; and in this practice they have another very powerful
incitement, as well as the comfortable warmth of the sun, which
is, that the fish incline to the northward, as the cold weather
comes on: this conjecture seems, in some degree, to account for
Captain Cook's having seen so few natives while he lay in
Botany-bay, and that it appeared to him the seacoast was thinly
inhabited; for I think it was in April, or May, that he was
there.

The animal described in the voyage of the Endeavour, called
the kangaroo, (but by the natives patagarang) we found in great
numbers; one was lately shot which weighed 140 pounds; its tail
was 40 inches long, and 17 in circumference at the root; it is
very well described in Phillip's Voyage: we ate the flesh with
great relish, and I think it good mutton, although not so
delicate as that which we sometimes find in Leadenhall-market.
The strength this animal has in its hind quarters is very great:
in its endeavours to escape from us, when surprized, it springs
from its hind legs, which are very long, and leaps at each bound
about six or eight yards, but does not appear ever in running to
let its fore-feet come near the ground; indeed they are so very
short, that it is not possible that the animal can use them in
running: they have vast strength also in their tail; it is, no
doubt, a principal part of their defence, when attacked; for with
it they can strike with prodigious force, I believe with
sufficent power to break the leg of a man; nor is it improbable
but that this great strength in the tail may assist them in
making those astonishing springs.

We for some time considered their tail as their chief defence,
but having of late hunted them with greyhounds very successfully,
we have had an opportunity of knowing that they use their claws
and teeth. The dog is much swifter than the kangaroo: the chase,
if in an open wood, (which is the place most frequented by that
animal,) is seldom more than eight or ten minutes, and if there
are more dogs than one, seldom so long. As soon as the hound
seizes him, he turns, and catching hold with the nails of his
fore-paws, he springs upon, and strikes at the dog with the claws
of his hind feet, which are wonderfully strong, and tears him to
such a degree, that it has frequently happened that we have been
under the necessity of carrying the dog home