2i2 AUSTRALIAN AND TASMANIAN ANIMALS 



straggling, stunted tree. Portions of the mountain slopes are also grassy, without 

 a single tree or bush. In South Australia the grassy tracts attain their fullest 

 development, occupying the greater part of the country, and extending north and 

 east from the coast in an undulating plain for hundreds of miles into the interior. 

 On the cultivated portion of these plains is grown some of the best wheat in the 

 world. In January the grassy tracts look like dry, ripe cornfields, and remain in 

 this parched condition till the commencement of the next rainy season, when the 

 plains, as if at the touch of a magician's wand, once more clothe themselves afresh 

 in verdure ; the welcome moisture transforming the straw-like grass so quickly 

 that, after only two days' rain, the whole expanse becomes as green as an English 

 meadow in spring. At the same time many plants burst into blossom ; and every 

 week brings out fresh colours, such as the brilliant scarlet of the kennydias, the 

 full violet of the swainsonias, and the variously twisted heads of the basket- 

 flowers. 



As regards other vegetation, it must suffice to refer to the graceful, cypress- 

 like casuarinas, which form such a characteristic element of the Australian flora. 



Of the mammalian fauna of Australia and Tasmania the great feature is the 

 presence of the egg-laying, or monotreme, group, the great development of mar- 

 supials, and the complete lack of all the placental groups with the exception of a 

 certain number of bats and of rodents belonging to the mouse family (Muridce) ; 

 the dingo, or native dog, being, like its master, an importation from the west. 

 Egg-laying mammals are entirely restricted to the Australasian realm, while 

 marsupials are found elsewhere at the present day only in Central and South 

 America. 



The Australian The black-skinned natives of Australia, who have features ap- 



ana Tasmanian proximating to the Negro, or perhaps to a low, generalised type, 

 Natives. although their skulls are different, were formerly supposed to repre- 

 sent a hybrid race due to the fusion of Eastern Negroes with a primitive stock of 

 the Caucasian group — that is to say, the group to which the natives of western 

 Europe and the Indian Aryans belong. It is, however, more probable that they 

 are really low-grade Caucasians, akin to such tribes as the Veddas of Ceylon, the 

 Toalas of Celebes, and the Ainus of Japan ; such Negro-like characters as they 

 possess being due to inheritance from a common stock, and in some degree to 

 secondary variation. Australians are characterised by their physical uniformity, 

 which is an indication of their being a pure-bred type, and they probably reached 

 their present home from Asia. The broad and squat nose, with a low bridge and 

 the nostrils open, is a Negro feature, but these characters are exaggerated owing 

 to the use of a nose-peg. The prominence of the jaws is also Negro-like, although 

 the large size of the jaws and teeth may be an acquired secondary character due 

 to hard food. The deep notch above the bridge of the nose and the sunken eyes, 

 which form the most striking characteristics of Australians, may likewise be 

 secondary adaptations to the glare of the sandy plains on which they dwell. Unlike 

 Negroes, Australians are extremely hairy, the hair on the head being waved 

 and long, the beard full, and the body in some instances so hairy that the 

 covering resembles a thin fur. The shape of the head also differs from that in the 

 Negro, the forehead being high and the cheek-bones prominent. The idea that 



