Miscellaneous. 315 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



Fabtdous Australian Animals. By Gerard Krefft. 



[To the Editor of tin Sydney Mail. 



BuNTipg and fabulous animals and the remains of some beast found 

 in the maw of a shark by Dampier, at Shark's Bay, were no doubt 

 referable to a dugrong. Dampier's " racoons " are of course " wal- 

 labies." The " guana " is probably our large " water-lizard " {Pky~ 

 sifjnathus Lesneurii). The " stump-tailed lizards " are the western 

 Trachydisaurus rugosm, good to eat, though Dampier did not like 

 their looks. The birds ligured represent an avocet, two terns, and 

 an oyster-catcher. The " hippopotamus " head (and " boans ") with 

 hairy lips, with two teeth, eight inches long and as big as a man's 

 thumb, were a dugong's upper incisor teeth, being correctly de- 

 scribed "■ small at one end andja little crooked." A dugong-authority 

 says : — " The front portion of the upper and lower jaws of a dugong 

 is covered (in the recent state) with a horny covering. The whole 

 substance is composed hi bristles about one-eighth of an inch in 

 length." (Knox, Cat. Pref. 37, 1838.) 



With regard to my remarks about the salmon, I repeat that the 

 salmon (Sahno salar) has not yet been successfully introduced into 

 Tasmania. I would advise my friends, if they have more money to 

 spend, to try Californian salmon-ova. The imported " carp " and 

 " tench," and the " common European perch ", have made havoc 

 with the native fishes in Tasmanian rivers. Why are not some of 

 our perch obtained ? They would at least be " Australian," and far 

 superior to the European freshwater fishes, 



I also mentioned " Tasmanian tigers " as about to be discovered 

 in the far north. Let me explain in a few words that these tigers 

 are " an illusion and a snare." 



Mr. Walter J. Scott, of Herbert Vale, Cardwell, communicates to 

 the London Zoological Society the imprint of certain tracks of some 

 unknown visitor, " who roared," &c. (Proceedings Zoological Society, 

 1872, p. 355). Concluding his remarks to Dr. Sclater, the secretary, 

 Mr. Scott states thus: — " I think that I have already mentioned to 

 you that a bullock-driver of ours, as long ago as 1864, came in one 

 day with a story that he had seen a tiger ; but as he was a notorious 

 liar, we did not believe a word of it at the time. Yet it is 2)ossible 

 he may really have seen the same animal, which must, I think, from 

 its claws, be allied to the Tasmanian thylacine." 



Mr. Hull, licensed surveyor, who supplied the footprints of the 

 " native tiger " which the Zoological Society engraved and published, 

 has corr't'ctly figured the impression of the fore foot of a dog. This 

 is interesting, and proves that there are dogs at Cardwell, in Northern 

 Queensland. If your readers will allow me, I can point out the 

 difference between the foot of a native Tasmanian tiger and a dog. 

 Every dog's fore foot marks four toes, like the Zoological Society's 

 drawing ; but a Tasmanian tiger marks five. 



