INTRODUCTION. 6 



this work is intended to illustrate) was a sealed book to him. 

 As regards this great country, it may be said that its )nost 

 highly organized animals, if we except the Seals, are the various 

 species of Rodents, and the equally numerous insectivorous and 

 frugivorous Eats, both of which rank among the lowest of the 

 Placentals. In America the Marsupialia are but feebly repre- 

 sented; in Africa and India none of this form exist. On the 

 other hand, Australia is the great country of these pouched 

 animals; they are universally distributed throughout its entire 

 extent, from north to south, and from cast to west; and they 

 are not even absent from the neighbouring islands. Their 

 presence in Tasmania on the south, and New Guinea on the 

 north, testifies that tlicse countries were formerly united to the 

 mainland, and constituted a great natural province, character- 

 ized by a similar fauna and flora. It will be unnecessary for 

 me to state that none of the Quadrumana, or Monkeys, are found 

 in Australia; and that neither the Lion, the Tiger, the Leopard, 

 nor any other of the Fclina, roam among its forests, to disturb 

 the harmony of its generally peaceful quadrupeds. 



The great groups of the Bovina, or Oxen, the Equincp, or 

 Horses and Zebras, the stately Elephant, the huge Rhinoceros, 

 as well as the Cervida, or Deer-kind, and the Anteloj)es, arc 

 totally unknown in Australia; yet the great grassy plains and 

 other physical features of the country would appear to be well 

 adapted for them and also for the smaller herbivorous q^^adrupeds, 

 such as the Hare, the Rabbit, &c. Why there should occur so 

 great a difference between the animals of Australia and those of 

 the other countries of the world it is not for me to say. But I 

 may ask, has creation been arrested in this strange land ? and, if 

 not, why are these higher types denied to it ? Whatever opinion 

 may be formed on this interesting subject, it is generally believed 

 that no more highly organized animals than those which are 

 now found there ever roamed over her plains or tenanted her 

 luxuriant brushes. At the same time, the partially fossilized 

 remains of disthict species of Kangaroos which have been disco- 



15 2 



