I touched him very gently with my cane. He dropped his nose downwards, that is, raised it upwards, and opened those cunning little eyes, as if to ask, "What do you want, sir? Have you anything for me to eat?" And then he put his chin back where it was, quite unconcernedly, leaving us to admire his shining black waterproof gossamer. These animals, as also some others of the great bat tribe, are a perfect pest to growers of fruit. Nocturnal in their habits, they come down on the trees while men sleep, so that it is difficult to guard against them. THE DUCK-BILLED PLATYPUS. Of all the queer animals in Australia, the duckbilled platypus is the most so. This is the link (or one of them) between the birds and the beasts. It is about eighteen inches long, and of a dark brown color. Its shape and its habits are very much like that of the otter. Its fur is very much finer; in fact, its fur is probably the finest and thickest of any animal known. A coat or cloak made of platypus fur would be valued at not less than eighty or one hundred pounds, that is, four or five hundred dollars. Through the kindness of a friend, we were able to bring with us two skins as curios. It eats frogs, mollusks, and water insects. It has the bill of the duck, and lays eggs, from which its young are hatched, and suckles its young after hatching, till they are able to do for themselves. You have, therefore, in the platypus a strange commingling of the bird and the beast. THE FLORA OF AUSTRALIA. S with the fauna so with the flora of Australia, quite unlike almost all other parts of the world, some thousands of species of flowering plants and trees have been discovered. The wattle, of which there are several varieties, is very beautiful when in full bloom. We were fortunate in having an opportunity to see these trees at the flowering season in our drives through the country. You find here, also, the magnificent acacias, yellowflowered mimosa, sweet-scented myall, and flowering banksias. Much of the scrub which covers the sandy plains presents, in the spring, a great variety of blossom. Many of these are armed with thick, short, sharp thorns and spikes, permitting you to admire their proteges (the flowers) with your eyes, but not to touch them with your hands. In almost all instances where we attempted to pluck wild native flowers we were met with these terrible thorns. In the forests are the gigantic ferns; some of these grow to a height of forty and fifty feet. I presume |