How Animals Work. 



it on all sides, and without any other material to im- 

 part warmth which, in fact, did not appear necessary, 

 the mound being quite warm to the hands. The holes 

 in this mound commenced at the outer edge of the 

 summit, and ran down obliquely towards the centre ; 

 their direction was therefore uniform. Like the major- 

 ity of the mounds I have seen, this was so enveloped 

 in thickly foliaged trees as to preclude the possibility 

 of the sun's rays reaching any part. The mounds dif- 

 fer very much in their composition, form, and situa- 

 tion ; most of those that are placed near the water's 

 edge were formed of sand and shells, without a vestige 

 of any other material, but in some of them I met with 

 a portion of soil and decaying wood. When con- 

 structed of this loose material they are very irregular 

 in outline, and often resemble a bank thrown up by 

 a constant surf. One remarkable specimen of this 

 description, situated on the southern bank of Knocker's 

 Bay, has the appearance of a bank from twenty-five 

 to thirty feet in length, with an average height of five 

 feet. Another, even more singular, is situated at the 

 head of the harbour, and is composed entirely of 

 pebbly ironstone, resembling a confused heap of sifted 

 gravel ; into this I dug to the depth of two or three 

 feet without finding any change of character. It may 

 have been conical originally, but is now without any 

 regularity, and is very extensive, covering a space of 

 at least a hundred and fifty feet in circumference. 

 These remarkable specimens would, however, seem to 

 be exceptions, as by far the greater number are en- 

 tirely formed by light black vegetable soil, are of conical 

 form, and are situated in the densest thickets. Occa- 



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