320 ^EW GUINEA. [chap, xxxiv. 



claws on the fore-feet, by which they grasp the bark and 

 branches, and seize the leaves on which they feed. They 

 move along by short jumps on their hind-feet, which do 

 not seem particularly well adapted for climbing trees. It 

 has been supposed that these tree-kangaroos are a special 

 adaptation to the swampy, half-drowned forests of New 

 Guinea, in place of the usual form of the group, which is 

 adapted only to dry ground. Mr. Windsor Earl makes 

 much of this theory, but, unfortunately for it, the tree- 

 kangaroos are chiefly found in the northern peninsula of 

 New Guinea, which is entirely composed of hills and 

 mountains with very little flat land, while the kangaroo 

 of the low flat Aru Islands (Dorcopsis asiaticus) is a 

 ground species. A more probable supposition seems to 

 be, that the tree-kangaroo has been modified to enable 

 it to feed on foliage in the vast forests of New Guinea, 

 as these form the great natural feature which distin- 

 guishes that country from Australia. 



On June 5th, the coal-ship arrived, having been sent 

 back from Amboyna, with the addition of some fresh 

 stores for the steamer. The wood, which had been almost 

 all taken on board, was now unladen again, the coal taken 

 in, and on the 17th both steamer and tender left for Hum- 

 boldt Bay. We were then a little quiet again, and got 

 something to eat ; for while the vessels were here every bit 



