BEARS AND KANGAROOS. 



203 



" Rather on account of his trunk-like nose. We shall probably see some of them 

 in this part of the world, though they are found as far north as the Zambesi and 

 Mozambique." 



" Australia has one creature," said Dick, " which has awakened more interest 

 than anything else : that is the duck-bill, or ornithorhynchus." 



"It belongs there or in Van Dieman's Land, and is known as the mullingong, 

 or platypus. It is less than two feet long, and is an aquatic and burrowing animal 

 It has a broad, Hat bill, thick, soft fur and webbed feet. It can use its fore feet 



THE KANGAROO MOVSR. 



equally well for digging or swimming, and in digging it employs its bill as well as 

 its feet. The males are furnished with a flexible spur for their hind feet, which can 

 be folded up so that it is out of sight." 



" Since Australia is the land of the kangaroo," suggested Bob, " I suppose you 

 had some adventures with those animals?" 



" Plenty of them, though none was so stirring as my experiences in India and 

 this part of the world. Kangaroo hunting is a favorite amusement of the colonists 

 and natives. The latter make use of -the boomerang, to which Pongo is so partial, 



