155 



paper in the printer's hands, and it will be submitted practically 

 as I left it. Nevertheless, I am now in a position to offer some 

 interesting particulars of its habits, which were obtained on my 

 journey, and also to verify the important fact of the existence of a 

 well-marked pouch in the female, on which jDoint I could not at first 

 be absolutely certain from the bad condition of the soft parts in 

 the first specimen received. Unfortunately, an accidental circum- 

 stance together with certain political exigencies made it necessary 

 that His Excellency's journey should be made with greater 

 rapidity than could be wished from my point of view, and it thus 

 became impossible for me to reach the exact locality where the 

 specimens had been found ; but I passed within fifty miles of the 

 spot, and through country which is of a precisely similar 

 character. Further, I had the advantage of meeting on our 

 journey the man who himself captured the first specimen sent 

 down, and by the kind consideration of the manager of the 

 Idracowra Station, their book-keeper, Mr. J. F. Bishop, was in- 

 structed to wait for me at a stated locality through which our 

 track must pass. To Mr. Bishop's zealous efforts I owe the whole 

 of the last lot of specimens, as well as much valuable informa- 

 tion concerning their habits and habitat. As may be imagined, 

 it was with feelings of much satisfaction that, on reaching our 

 camp one evening at the Horse-shoe Bend of the Finke River, I 

 met Mr. Bishop with his welcome complement of specimens safe in 

 his saddle-bags. From Mr. C. Benham also, who had previously 

 been employed on the same run, and by wdiom the first specimen 

 was forwarded to the Museum, I have also received much 

 valuable information concerning the animal. Both Mr. Bishop 

 and Mr. Benham have seen the animals alive, in a state of nature 

 as well as in captivity, and the following notes comprise all the 

 information that I could acquire from these two principal sources^ 

 as well as from some natives of the locality whom I questioned 

 on the matter. 



HABITS AND HABITAT. 



It appears that the first specimen was captured by Mr. Wm. 

 Coulthard, manager of the Frew River Station and other Northern 

 runs belonging to the Willowie Pastoral Company. Attracted 

 by some peculiar tracks, on reaching his camp one evening on 

 the Finke River, while traversing the Idracowra Station with 

 cattle, he followed them up and found the animal lying under a 

 tussock of spinifex or jDorcupine grass (IViodia irritans). 

 Though he is an old bush hand, with all the watchful alertness 

 and powers of observation usually acquired by those who live 

 lives of difficulty and danger, this was the first and only specimen 

 of the animal he ever saw. As previously stated, this found its. 

 way to the Museum through the agency of Messrs. Benham and 



