578 ox DENDROLAGUS BEN SETTI ANUS, DE VIS, 



Mr. C. W. de Vis hesitatingly named an imperfect skin D. 

 herinettianus* and although the description is necessarily some- 

 what meagre, it is, I think, sufficient to justify me in regarding 

 our specimens as identical with it. I am pleased to be able to 

 more fully establish the species, and as we possess excellent 

 material, I submit the following as a description of the adult 

 female before mentioned. The measurements were made in the 

 flesh. 



Description. 



Head and body... 610mm. Tail 631mm. 



Ear 38mm. Hind foot 134mm. 



Rhinarium tolerably clothed with short hairs, space between 

 the nostrils yaked. Fur soft and long, especially on the back and 

 sides. The hair radiates from a point some distance behind the 

 shoulders, whence it is directed upwards to the head ; it meets 

 the hair of the face in front of the ears and forms a tortuous crest, 

 the central point directed backwards to between the ears ; on the 

 under side of the throat the hair is also reversed. Ears naked 

 within excepting towards the tip, where they are scantily provided 

 with long silky hairs. Tail cylindrical, thick at the base, tapering; 



thick scrubs of Queensland, and the following account by Mr. Robert 

 Hislop, who evidently fully believes in the existence of the animal, certainly 

 appears to be most circumstantial: — "The blacks say that they have 

 watched this animal's mode of attacking the kangaroo. It only does so 

 when its victim is isolated from its mates and then only by stealtii. It 

 keeps at a distance from its prey until it can frighten it by suddenly rushing 

 towards it, uttering screeches. As soon as the kangaroo turns its back or 

 is in the act of jumping away, the cat springs on its back and cruslies the 

 base of its skull in its jaws, which the blacks describe as being very 

 powerful. I have never seen this animal myself, but I have seen its tracks, 

 which are vcr^' similar to those of a large dog and seem to be provided 

 with long claws. The blacks describe it as about the size of a bulldog with 

 long brindled fur and very large eyes. They are very frightened of it and 

 will not go near any cave or hole where they think one might be, as they 

 say it does not hesitate to attack a man and often kills their dogs." 

 * Proc. Roy. Soc. Queensland, iii. 1886, p. 11. 



