On their voyage of
discovery,
Of privation and cartography,
The sailors said to
Captain Cook,
"
Come over
here and have
a look.
We'
ve caught
a creature
with a pouch
That leaps and
springs and seems to crouch.
Its head
is small,
its ears are long.
Its legs and tail are thick and strong."
No-
one knew
what the creature
was.
Some
men were sent ashore because
Animals must have
a name
(And
the natives knew
the game).
Meanwhile,
the captive pushed and shoved,
Was given leather boxing-gloves.
The men returned, trusty and
true,
»They
tell us it'
s a kangaroo.«
(
The truth emerged much later when,
On trips by less resourceful
men,
The Aborigines told those
who'
d come to stay
That kangaroo meant
What did
you say?)