of the plain, and by crawling up through the wood we managed to slip the
dogs about five hundred yards from them. Away they went, leaving a stream
of dust in their wake. Their habitual curving direction soon gave us a
broadside view; and a splendid course it was. They ran horizontally, no
leap or hop being perceptible. At first the dogs closed rapidly, but for
some time afterwards no change in their relative positions took place,
each doing his best. The kangaroos held their own well, until they had
reached nearly the other side of the plain, a distance of about two
miles, when the dogs began gradually to draw on them, and at length,
after a turn or two, the smaller was run into just before entering the
wood. It was a fine young buck, weighing about 60 pounds, and made a
capital supper for our party. The natives cooked the tail for us in their
own way, roasting it with the hair on, the best mode of dressing it,
except in soup.

Next morning we found that our sable friends had eaten so much of the
kangaroo that there was great difficulty in getting them to move.
However, they at length consented to accompany us, and we proceeded five
or six miles further on the Swan River road, to a place where a party of
soldiers were stationed. Here the temptation of a fresh supply of
kangaroo proved irresistible, and with the exception of one, who was
Lieutenant Warburton's servant, the natives all left us to resume the
pleasant occupation of eating. The gastronomic feats performed by these
persons are really surprising; and in the work recently published by Mr.
Eyre the reader will find some curious details on the subject.

We now took a westerly direction, for a tract of good country lying about
thirty-five miles from the Sound, a little to the westward of the road to
Swan River.