WHALLABER.—Halmatiirus Valoldtus. 
The character of the fur is rather singular, for it does not lie so closely to the body 
as that of the common Kangaroo, and is of a peculiar texture, which somewhat resembles 
cotton wool, The hairs are not very long, and their woolly, mi rited appearance, makes them 
seem shorter than they really are. The size of this animal is very great, for an adult 
male measures rather more than eight feet in total leneth, the head and body being five 
feet long, and the tail a little short of thirty-eight inches. 
By the colour of the fur alone the Woolly Kangaroo can be distinguished from its 
long-legged relatives, independently of other minute ‘differences. The general tint of the 
fur i 18 of a rusty yellow, changing to grey upon the head and shoulders, the head being 
washed with a slight brown tint. The sides of the mouth are white, through which 
protrude a few long, stiff, black hairs, and which are planted in greater numbers over the 
angle of the mouth, forming an indistinct black patch. The female is distinguished by 
a broad white mark which runs from the angle of the mouth to the eye. The toes are 
covered with black hairs. 
An ashy-grey tint is seen upon the under portions of the body in the male sex, but 
in the female these parts are beautifully white. The limbs are grey ‘ish-white, washed with 
rust, and the tail is of the same colour as the limbs. 
The tail is uncommonly large and powerful, and of vast service to the animal in 
supporting the heavy frame ‘while the creature is standing erect wpon the tripod formed by 
its hinder feet and its tail. The hairs of the tail are comparatively short and scanty, so 
that they do not give to the tail that peculiar woolliness which is so distinguishing a 
characteristic of the creature's fur. It may as well be mentioned in this place that 
the Kangaroo does not employ the tail in leaping from the ground, but seems to use 
it partly as a kind of third leg, by which it supports itself w hen at rest, and partly as a 
kind of balance, by which it maintains its equilibrium as it leaps through the air. 
The muzzle of the Woolly Kangaroo is not so thickly covered with hair as that 
of the preceding animal. This species is an inhabitant of Southern Australia, 
