April 

 1920 



] Weindorfer and Francis, Wild Life in Tasmania. 167 



are accustomed to a place and master, they will never leave. 

 In one of our small country towns it was an everyday sight 

 to see an old lady going to the railway station for her mail 

 followed by a pet wombat that was perfectly well aware of its 

 mistress's dexterity in handling a stick on the approach of an 

 over-confident dog. 



The flesh of the wombat, as regards edibility, is easily first 

 amongst that of bush animals. It is dark, though not quite 

 so much so as that of the kangaroo, and may be compared in 

 flavour with that of young beef. The skin is, however, 

 removed with some difficulty, the bristles, especially on the 

 back, growing right through from the flesh. As before 

 mentioned, they make good mats, but are too porous for manu- 

 facture into leather. 



Macropus ruficollis, var. bennetti, Waterh., Bennett's 



Wallaby. 



Its fur enters the trade under the name of kangaroo, and 

 the animal itself is generally called kangaroo. For reasons to 

 be explained later on, the authors prefer to adhere to this name. 

 Clive E. Lord, in his " Notes on the Mammals of Tasmania," 

 1918, page 32, describing the kangaroo (Bennett's Wallaby), 

 says :— " Back of neck and rump bright rufous." In the Cradle 

 Mountains and other high elevations further south and west, 

 this variety is found. At times of heavy snowfalls on the 

 mountains and other unpropitious weather conditions it may 

 occasionally descend to lower altitudes, which are otherwise ex- 

 clusively inhabited by a variety whose back of neck and rump 

 are of dark grey colour. Besides the difference in colour, the 

 variety of Lord seems to have a thinner but longer fur than 

 the former, and offers shelter to an infinitely greater number 

 of vermin. Furthermore, the scanty supply of good food in 

 higher altitudes imprints its mark on the animal's condition, 

 and the rocky nature of its environment has cultivated a foot 

 whose under surface is covered with a far thicker horny 

 substance. Otherwise, the habits of both varieties are identical, 

 with the exception, perhaps, that the first-named is slower 

 in its movements and falls an easier prey to dogs — most likely 

 on account of its ignorance of danger. 



In the early days of settlement by the Van Diemen's Land Co. 

 at Middlesex, the presence of the kangaroo in the district was 

 said to have been unknown ; but it is more likely that the 

 kangaroo had been attacked by disfease prior to the arrival of 

 man, and had been almost wiped out for a time, as was the case 

 with the wallaby in later years. Like the wallaby, it subse- 

 quently increased to large numbers, and these were un- 

 doubtedly supplemented by those driven back by advancing 



