136 VERTEBRATA. MAMMALIA. 



" Mr. G. Bennett's observations were commenced 

 on the 4th Oct. 1832, at Mundoona, in the Murray 

 county, on a part of the Yas River running through 

 the estate of Mr. James Rose. The Water Moles, 

 (as these animals are called by the colonists,) chiefly 

 frequent the open and tranquil parts of the stream 

 covered with aquatic plants, where the steep and 

 shaded banks afford excellent situations for the ex- 

 cavations of their burrows. Such expanses of water 

 are by the colonists called " ponds." The animals 

 may be readily recognized by their dark bodies just 

 seen level with the surface, above which the head is 

 slightly raised, and by the circles made in the water 

 around them by their paddling action. On the 

 slightest alarm they instantly disappear ; and indeed, 

 they seldom remain longer on the surface than one 

 or two minutes, but dive head-foremost with an au- 

 dible splash, reappearing, if not alarmed, a short dis- 

 tance from the spot at which they dived. Their 

 action is so rapid, and their sense of danger so lively, 

 that the mere act of levelling the gun is sufficient to 

 cause their instant disappearance , and it is conse- 

 quently only by watching them when diving, and 

 levelling the piece in a direction towards the spot at 

 which they seem likely to reappear, that a fair shot 

 at them can be obtained. A near shot is absolutely 

 requisite ; and when wounded, they usually sink im- 

 mediately, but quickly reappear on the surface." 



After recording the capture of four or five indi- 

 viduals, interesting chiefly in the particulars ob- 

 served on their dissection, the narrative proceeds : 



