Tasmanian friends and foes : feathered, furred, and finned; a family chronicle of country life, nature history, and veritable adventure / [Mrs. Charles Meredith].

  • Meredith, Charles, Mrs., 1812-1895.
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Tasmanian friends and foes : feathered, furred, and finned; a family chronicle of country life, nature history, and veritable adventure / [Mrs. Charles Meredith]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    sifc between two and three feet high, but are higher when they stand or jump. I think our last Joey was the dearest of all, and we had him about three years. I do not know why they are named Joey any more than Johnny j but, whether male or female, that is what young kangaroos or opossums are commonly called. We had this one quite young. Our great kangaroo-dog, Bluey, chased and killed his poor mother; but when the little one jumped out of her pouch, the dear old dog caught it, and carried it in his mouth quite gently, without hurting it. So it was brought home, and Mamma, and a maid we had then who was very kind to all our pets, fed poor little Joey with warm milk from a bottle, and kept him iu some wool and flannel in a basket. He was very soft and thin, and his long legs seemed so weak and slight you would have been afraid to touch him. He was taken great care of, and grew quite strong and active, and used to hop round the garden with us at a flying pace if we ran races. If we walked quietly, he would take one of our hands in his two little fore paws quite lovingly, and hop gently beside us. He soon learned to eat his milk from a saucer, and throughout his life used to expect it in a morning. In wet weather he certainly was a little provoking, for, as he lived at liberty in the garden, he always came in the morning to the house-door, and, if that were open, hopped into the hall and dining-room. So his long wet tail and hind feet made three long dirty tracks wherever he went—a good deal more to our amusement than that of his old friend the housemaid, who used to remonstrate with him very gravely, and ask him how he came not to learn better manners, and wipe his feet on the mat “ like the other young gentlemen.” One summer morning, when the doors were all open, I came alone into the dining-room, and at the window stood Joey on tip-toe, with one hand resting on the window-frame, and his pretty bright face peering out in the drollest way at the cat lying outside in the sun. How I wished I could have painted a picture of him! He often tried to make friends with puss, but she rejected his over- tures in a very unladylike manner, spitting, clawing, setting up her back, and scampering away if he attempted to approach within touching distance. Nothing could be more graceful than his movements and attitudes. Even when he sat on the middle of his back, holding his tail straight up in front of him with one hand, and combing the hair smooth with the other, it was done daintily; and though it always made us laugh to see him, he never looked awkward, as any other animal would do in such a grotesque position. If our merriment disturbed him, he would pause for a moment and look up, as if to c