'By no means,' quoth the captain. They are models of rosy health.'

'Well, then, we must put up with the rest. Another man, used to fine society, and more book learning than me, might find it dull to be shut up in this valley, without seeing a soul, maybe for months. No morning newspaper comes this way, and not many travellers show themselves.'

'Are you not afraid of your children being lost here?' 'My wife often is frightened about that. But the youngsters born up here are pretty 'cute, and know how to take care of themselves. Your town folks are in the greatest danger. Did you ever hear of the surveyor on this road being lost?'

'No, tell me the story, if you please.'

'Well, I had it from himself. Like a great flat, he got off the track of his working party, and by the merest chance like got into it again. But he had a great shock to his feelings. Thinking it was all up with him, he made a sort of will in his note-book. He showed me what he wrote, and I copied a part.' 'What did he write?'

'These were his words,' said the man, reading them from an old pocket book:

'If it be the will of Divine Providence that I perish in this dreary forest, these are my last words. Let my imprudence in quitting the main track, (unfortunately without a compass, without food, or the means of kindling a fire,) be a warning to others.'

'Poor fellow!' ejaculated the listener.

'Did you ever hear of Commissary Creek, sir?' 'I saw it marked on the map.'

'Do you know why that name was given it?' 'No, I don't; but I suppose it was in honour of some commissary officer.'

'Not at all. There was a chap lost in the scrub there. He ate all he could to sustain life, and at last finished by eating his cap. As he was a convict, and the leather caps furnished by government were called commissaries, the creek got named after his devoured cap.'

Captain Douglas did not venture through to Emu Bay, nor visit the wonderful potato region about Circular Head. But he was satisfied that, though a little too moist and rude for him, the locality would be a happy home for many working men. Already the fruit trees were in full bearing, and the soil produced almost a hundred-fold.

It was on this trip the traveller learned some facts upon the natural history of the Island.

He knew many of the animals from description. The kangaroo and opossum were familiar enough. He did not see in Tasmania the Tree Kangaroo of New Guinea, though aware of the singular coincidence of many forms of Flora and Fauna in both countries, so far removed from each other. The Kangaroo Rat is much complained of by the potato growers. The other burrower, the Bandicoot, he observed to have

the tail of a rat, and occupy a position somewhat between the Kangaroo and the Opossum.

The Wombat, or native Pig, was common up that quarter. It burrows like a badger, eating the coarse grass and nuts. Clumsy enough to be styled a pig, although a marsupial animal, its flesh has a pork-like flavour. The hair is very thick and coarse, and the head is large and flat. The fore feet have each five toes, and crooked nails; but the hind feet have only four. It never comes out of its hole but at night, to gambol and feed.

Tasmania has no Dingo, or Wild Dog, as Australia owns, but boasts of a Tiger and a Devil.

The latter is an ugly-mouthed creature of the size of a dog, but wolf-like in aspect. The broad white bands on the black short fur of its chest and haunches give it an odd and unpleasant appearance. The tail is thick and short. Its habits are nocturnal, sneaky, and cowardly. Its favourite food is mutton, when a stray sheep can be caught.

The Tiger is of the cat kind. Tasmania, in addition to the ordinary Australian native cat, has a TigerCat and a Tiger. All are marsupial. A cat may be found with seven or eight young ones attached to her pouch. The creature is hopelessly savage. The Tiger-Cat has weasel-like legs, and a long body, sometimes even a yard long. It is also nocturnal, and uncommonly fierce, though never attacking anything but birds and small quadrupeds. The Tiger,

H

or Hyena, is also one of the marsupial, carnivorous animals. Though possessed of great strength, and running to four or five feet in length, it is singularly timid at the approach of man. It is now nearly extinct in the island. The colour is brown, with tigerlike black stripes on the back and haunches. The cat itself is remarkably spotted white on a black or dark grey fur. The Tiger-cat has the spots on a rusty brown ground. All the tribe have very short legs, and are quite untameable.

The Tasmanian Porcupine-Anteater, or Echidna, is marsupial. The legs and tail are very short. The claws are made for burrowing. The tongue and snout are long. It has no teeth, and has very small eyes. When pursued, if unable to burrow, it will roll itself up in a ball, and present its spines to the foe. The body is about a foot long, and the yellowish white spines are tipped with black.

But the Platypus, or Ornithorhynchus Paradoxus, is the most remarkable of all. With the bill and feet of a duck, it has the fur or skin of a quadruped. There is no external ear, and the eyes are uncommonly small and lively. It burrows in the ground, and is quite amphibious. When asleep, it rolls itself up in a ball, and lays its flat, obtuse tail over its back for warmth. Two teeth, with flat tops and no roots, are placed on each side at the back of the mouth. It is about fifteen to twenty inches in length. The female lays her eggs; the male carries a bag of poison, and

has a spur on his hind legs. This near approach to the reptile has its home in quiet retreats by rivers.

According to Dr Krefft of Sydney, Australia has eighty marsupials, and thirty rodents. It has also six hundred and seventy birds, a hundred and fifty reptiles, and four hundred and forty fishes.

CHAPTER XIII.

LOYALTY IN THE COLONY.

As the Queen's birth-day was at hand, Captain Douglas received an invitation to the Government ball.

'I am glad to see you are loyal enough, Roberts, to have her Majesty's birth-day kept up here.'

'And did you fancy that the leopard had changed its spots by crossing the line? Believe me, my

friend, we Britishers in the Australian colonies are not like the Britishers that go to America. The first are true to the Union Jack, though the others too frequently desert their colours for a striped rag with some stars on it.'

'I rejoice to find myself under the old flag I have fought under. But I was told you had all turned Republicans in the colonies.'

'We are so pretty well as to form of government; but it is a republic with a queen at the head.'