appearance of the trees, as though, at the distance of
some years, the woods had been destroyed by fire. The soil, so far as it
was seen, was thought very good, and the trees bore witness of this by
their size and growth; yet so frequently do travellers, like doctors,
disagree, that another explorer, Captain Sturt, pronounces this spot to
be not by any means fertile. The quantity of kangaroos found here was
remarkable enough to give a name to the island; and so entirely were
these harmless animals strangers to the power of man, that they suffered
themselves to be approached and killed without any efforts to escape.
Captain Flinders, on the first day of landing, killed ten, and the rest
of his party made up the number to thirty-one taken on board in the
course of the day, the least weighing 69 and the largest 125 lbs. The
whole ship's company were employed that afternoon in skinning and
cleaning the kangaroos, and a delightful feast they afforded to men
who for four months had scarcely tasted any fresh provisions. Never,
perhaps, had the dominion held here by these creatures been before
disturbed; the seals, indeed, shared it with the kangaroos on the
shores, but they seemed to dwell peacefully together, each animal
occasionally wandering into the haunts of the other, so that a gun fired
at a kangaroo upon the beach would sometimes bring forth two or three
bellowing seals from underneath bushes a good deal further from the
water-side. The seal, indeed, was the most knowing creature of the
two, for its actions bespoke that it distinguished the sailors from
kangaroos, whereas the latter not uncommonly appeared to mistake them
for seals. Indeed it is curious to trace the total absence of all
knowledge of man in these distant isles of Australia. In another island
a white eagle was seen making a motion to pounce down upon the British
sailors, whom it evidently took for kangaroos, never, probably, having
seen an upright animal, (except that, when moving upon its hind legs,)
and naturally, therefore, mistaking the men for its usual prey.

In another part of Kangaroo Island, which was afterwards visited, a
large piece of water was discovered at the head of a bay, and in this
water an immense number of pelicans were seen; upon some small islets
were found many young birds yet unable to fly, and upon the surrounding
beach a great number of old ones were seen, while the bones and
skeletons of many lay scattered about. So that it ap