much like the native Cat to look at, but
entirely different in its behaviour. It feeds
only on roots and vegetable substances, living
in burrows, or beneath surface stones, or
fallen timber. The Bandicoot abounds in the
clear country, where it is often eaten by the
bushmen. The flesh reminds one of a rabbit,
though the joints are not so large. In the
same districts the Kangaroo-Rat is usually to
be found. This is a perfect kangaroo in miniature,
and like the larger genus, it moves on
its hind legs only, using the hands or forelegs
to carry food to its mouth. There are
several species of this tribe, but only one
other worth present notice—the Kangaroo-
Mouse, a pretty little creature, scarcely larger
than the common shrew, but imitating all the
ways of the great kangaroo.

Now I have said enough about marsupial
animals, and come, in the next place, to two
quadrupeds ranked by the naturalists in the
order edentata (toothless.) They form a
distinct family under the name of monotremes,
and possess an organisation and a mode of
reproduction unlike those of any other creatures.
The first of these, the Duck-Billed Platypus
(ornithorhynchiis paradoxus), seemed on its
first discovery to be a creature quite as
wonderful as any mermaid. It has the body of a
hairy quadruped, with a duck's bill; the feet
are webbed and turned backwards like the
flippers of a seal; and all the outlets from its
body end in the same orifice (hence the name
of the tribe, monotremes). It is of amphibious
habits, and obtains its food from the
muddy bottom of a lake or river. It is able
to live under water for a considerable length
of time. It produces its young in the same
manner as many reptiles, from eggs hatched
within its body. It possesses, instead of the
usual shoulder-blade, a bone similar to that
called the merry-thought in birds; and it is
apparently destitute of any apparatus for
secreting and supplying milk for its young,
from which mammalia are named. This
eccentric animal, on its first introduction to
societies in Europe, created amongst
naturalists great excitement; and grave doubts
were entertained of the reality of its existence.
When the arrival of more specimens proved
that the Platypus was not a manufactured
monster, it was found necessary to assign to
it a distinct and prominent position in the great
zoological system, for under no existing genus
could the bird-beast-fish-reptile be accurately
classed. Many extraordinary theories were
broached respecting it. The absence of any
perceptible nipple in the female was adduced as
strong proof that the mode of reproduction was
similar to that of birds—that the quadruped
actually laid eggs. It was not until 1834
that Professor Owen set the subject finally
at rest, by proving from repeated experiments
and most minute and untiring investigation,
that the female Platypus secretes milk
in the same way as other mammals, and
supplies the fluid to its young through a number
of very small openings, that communicate by
hair-like ducts with the secreting or
mammary gland.

The Platypus is now almost as familiar to
most readers as the kangaroo, though I
believe no living specimen has ever yet reached
England. It is rapidly becoming very scarce
in Australia, where it was at no time common.
Alive, and in its own haunts, it is certainly
a wonder to behold. I had the good fortune,
some years ago, to capture one alive on the
river Glenelg, in the Portland Bay district,
and though it did not long survive in
confinement, I had good opportunity of making
its acquaintance. The body is not unlike that
of a small fur seal, having a dark grey coat of
soft fur next the skin, and above that a covering
of coarse hair nearly black, with an
occasional patch of reddish brown. The head is
much flattened, and has attached to it two
mandibles, exactly resembling in shape a
large duck's bill. The central ridge of the bill
is a hard bony substance, which expands on
both sides into a border of soft flexible
cartilage. At the junction of the bill with the
head, is a flap of greyish skin extending
towards the eyes, and passing completely
round the singular mouth-piece. The feet
are armed with strong claws, and closely
webbed; the web on the fore-feet stretching
loosely beyond the claws. The tail is long,
flat, and very broad. From the extremity of
the beak to the root of the tail, this specimen
measured fifteen inches, the tail adding five
inches to its length. The eyes are small and
deeply sunk, and the ears are only discernible
on a very close examination. Like the otter
—to which the Platypus bears some affinity in
its habits—it makes a long burrow on the
bank of the river, with two entrances; one
close to the surface of the water,and the other
at the inland termination. The specimen
which I had in my possession fed readily on
a sort of small shrimp procured from the river;
but did not refuse bread crumbs steeped in
water. Its movements ashore are awkward
and ungainly, and the singular form of the
hind legs, which bend backwards, though
very suitable for swimming, makes any quick
progress on land impossible.

The only other member of the family of
monotremes is an animal almost as remarkable
as the one just described. It is called
by the colonist the Native Porcupine, by
naturalists, the Echidna. Like the Platypus,
it is very rare, and is found only in particular
localities. A few specimens have been taken,
in the neighbourhood of the Blue Mountains
in New South Wales, and especially among
the woody hills of Tasmania; but its scarcity,
timidity, and solitary habits, nearly deprive
men of all chance of becoming acquainted
with its peculiarities, or of examining its mode
of life when in a state of nature. Little is
positively known respecting it; that little,
I however, tends to show that in its anomalous
I structure it resembles the Platypus. In