ORNITIJORHYNCHUS PARADOXUS. 319 



inches in breadth. Its whole length, from the en- 

 trance to the termination, was twenty feet ;* narrow- 

 ing as it receded from the entrance, where it 

 measured one foot three inches in depth, and one 

 foot one inch in breadth, and in the intermediate part 

 becoming scarcely larger than the usual breadth of the 

 animal when uncontracted. 



From this burrow a living female was taken, and 

 placed in a cask, with grass, mud, water, &c. ; and 

 in this situation it soon became tranquil, and appa- 

 rently reconciled to its confinement. Hoping that 

 he had now obtained the means, should his captive 

 prove to have been impregnated, of determining the 

 character of the excluded product, Mr. G. Bennett 

 set out on his return for Sidney, on the 13th of 

 October, carrying the living Ornithorhynchus with 

 him in a small box, covered with battens, between 

 which only very narrow intervals were left. 



The next morning, tying a long cord to its leg, he 

 roused it and placed it on the bank of the river, in 

 order to indulge it with a bathe ; and a similar in- 

 dulgence was granted to it on the second day of its 

 journey. On these occasions it soon found its way 

 into the water, and travelled up the stream, appa- 

 rently delighted in those places which abounded most 

 with aquatic weeds. When diving in deep and clear 

 water, its motions were distinctly seen ; it sunk 

 speedily to the bottom, swam there for a short 



* Mr. Bennett afterwards examined a burrow which was 35 

 feet in length, and states that burrows have been observed of 

 even 50 feet in length. 



