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THE KANGAROO HUNTERS;
OR,
ADVENTURES IN THE BUSH.
By ANNE BOWMAN,
AUTHOR OF "ESPERANZA," "THE CASTAWAYS," "THE YOUNG EXILES," ETC., ETC.
On the hoar crag quivering;
Or through gorges thunder-riven,
Leaps she with her airy spring!
But behind her still, the foe—
Near, and near the deadly bow!"
PHILADELPHIA:
PORTER & COATES.
"He faced round, and with his fore-feet—his arms Ishould say—he seized me, and gave me a heavy fall."
PREFACE.
The rapid spread of education creates a continual demand for new books,of a character to gratify the taste of the young, and at the same timeto satisfy the scruples of their instructors. The restless, inquiringspirit of youth craves, from its first development, food for theimagination, and even the simplest nursery rhymes owe their principalcharm to their wonderful improbability. To these succeed theever-interesting tales of Fairies and Enchanters; and the ardent boyonly forsakes Ali Baba and Sindbad for the familiar and lifelikefictions of "Robinson Crusoe," and the hundred pleasant tales on the"Robinson Crusoe" model which have succeeded that popular romance.
It is the nature of man to soar above the common prose of every-day lifein his recreations; from the weary school-boy, who relieves his mind,after arithmetical calculations and pages of syntax, by fancifuladventures amidst scenes of novelty and peril, and returns to his laborsrefreshed, to the over-tasked man of study or science, who wades throughhis days and nights of toil, cheered by the prospect of a holiday ofvoyaging or travelling over new scenes.
This spirit of inquiry has usually the happiest influence on thecharacter of the young and old, and leads them—
The works of God, thereby to glorify
The great Work-Master."
In this belief, we are encouraged to continue to supply the young withbooks which do not profess to be true, though they are composed oftruths. They are doubtless romantic, but cannot mislead the judgment orcorrupt the taste; their aim being to describe the marvellous works ofcreation, and to lead t