DASYURES URSINUS. 129 



tongish brown-black hairs; naked tip to muzzle, 

 brown ; the fur on the sides of the muzzle is not 

 sufficiently close to hide the flesh ; the ears are flesh 

 coloured, partially covered with longish black hairs ; 

 on the outer side there are but few hairs ; the naked 

 soles of the feet are flesh coloured. 



Length from nose to root of tail, 21 inches; tail, 

 7 inches ; nose to base of ear, 4 inches 2 lines ; 

 tarsus, 3 inches ; length of skull, 5 inches 2 lines ; 

 width, 4 inches ; length of palate, 2 inches 8^ lines. 



Observations. The white mark across the chest, 

 and that across the rump, are not always present,* 

 at least they are not so much extended as above de- 

 scribed. In a skin before me, the chest mark does 

 not pass over the base of the fore-legs ; on one side 

 there is a white spot just below and behind the 

 shoulder ; there is no white mark across the rump, 

 but a single white patch on one side. 



The Ursine Dasyurus inhabits Van Diemen's 

 Land, and is called by the colonists the native 

 Devil, by which name it was known upwards of 

 thirty years back. 



Mr, Harris states that cr these animals were very 

 common on our first settling at Hobart Town, and 

 were particularly destructive to poultry, &c. They, 

 lowever, furnished the convicts with a fresh meal, 

 and the taste was said to be not unlike veal. As 

 the settlement increased, and the ground became 

 cleared, they were driven from their haunts near 

 the town, to the deeper recesses of the forests yet 

 unexplored. They are, however, easily procured 



