370 WOMBAT AND KOALA. 



may be seen both in the London Zoological Gardens and the Jardin 

 Zoologique of Paris. He is better known by his native name of the 

 Wombat (Phascolomys Wombat), and was first discovered by Bass, 

 the gallant explorer and surgeon, whose name is indissolubly con- 

 nected with the bright deeds of Australian discovery. The large- 

 browed wombat might, at first sight, be mistaken for a small bear. 

 His loins are thick, his limbs short, his hair coarse thickly set on 

 the loins, back, and head, thinly scattered about the belly and of a 

 light, shining sandy-brown. It is difficult to say why he is surnamed 

 latifrons, for his forehead is no larger than that of other animals of 

 his family ; and, at all events, he exhibits, by way of compensation, 

 an extraordinary extent of surface in the hinder parts, which, as they 

 are utterly deficient in tail, present a very grotesque appearance. 

 He burrows like the badger, and on the Australian continent never 

 quits his retreat until night sets in. He lives on herbs and roots. 

 The natives roast his flesh, and esteem it a viand of no ordinary 

 excellence. 



The Phascolarctos, or Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), is closely 

 allied to the wombat. He is strongly but clumsily made, with 

 robust limbs and powerful claws, which he employs in clinging to 

 the branches of the trees where he chiefly makes his home. How- 

 ever, he frequently visits terra firma, and burrows with great ease ; 

 concealing himself in a torpid state in his subterranean retreat during 

 the cold season. His fore-feet have each five toes, of which two are 

 opposed to the other three a circumstance noted in no other mammal. 

 He has no tail, like the wombat. His coat is a bluish-gray fur, 

 very thick and extremely soft, darkest on the back, and very pale 

 under the throat and belly. An elongated nose looks as if it were 

 tipped with black leather. The eyes are round and dark ; the ears 

 almost hidden in the plenitude of fur. By day he is a drowsy and, 

 sooth to say, a stupid animal ; but at night he wakes up into a more 

 active state. He feeds upon the fresh young tops of trees, selecting 

 their blossoms and young shoots ; and though in appearance resem- 

 bling the Phalanga, in habits seems closely allied to the Sloth. 



