THE SOOTY PHALANGIST. 369 



The fur of the Cuscus is beautifully soft and silken in its texture, and is of some value 

 for conversion into articles of human attire or luxury, such as cloaks and mantles. The 

 color of the fur is singularly variable, even if the Spotted Cuscus be really a separate species, 

 and still more so if, according to many skilful zoologists, it can only be considered as a single 

 variety. 



The ground tint of the Spotted Cuscus is a whitish -gray. Upon this pale tint are scattered 

 very large and bold spots of deep brown, covered with a reddish-chestnut. Sometimes it is 

 almost wholly white, with only one or two small spots scattered sparingly over the body. 

 The tail is yellowish-white. Another specimen will be almost entirely of the darker color, 

 and marked as follows : The shoulders and head of a curious gray grizzle, and the remain- 

 der of the body to the tail grayish-white. A number of large angular black spots or patches 

 are so placed upon this pale held, that they communicate with each other, and form a kind 

 of indistinct black pattern on the creature's back. The color of these dark patches is 

 nearly black, and would be so entirely but from a number of white hairs which are seen among 

 the black. These descriptions are taken from actual specimens. Another species, called the 

 Ursine Cuscus, is of a uniform deep brown. 



These animals are in some request among the white and the native population of the 

 country which they inhabit, for they not only furnish valuable fur or "peltry," as the skin 

 of these and similar creatures is popularly termed, but also afford nourishment to their 

 captors. The flesh of the Cuscus is thought to be remarkably good by those who have par- 

 taken of it, and is said to be quite equal to that of the kangaroo. There is a certain rather 

 powerful and not very agreeable scent that issues from the Cuscus and most of its relations, 

 which does not, however, disqualify the creature from forming a most valued j>ortion of the 

 hunter 1 s dietary. This scent proceeds from some small glands which are situated near the 

 insertion of the tail. 



In captivity it is not a particularly interesting animal, being dull and slow in its move- 

 ments, and seldom exhibiting any energy, except, perhaps, when it ought rather to keep itself 

 quiet. One of these creatures, which had been for some time partially domesticated, was very 

 sluggish and unimpressible in its manner until a companion was placed in the same cage. The 

 two animals immediately became violently excited, attacked each other fiercely, and growled, 

 and scratched, and bit, with infinitely more energy than would have been expected from creat- 

 ures of such apparently apathetic natures. 



These specimens were great water-drinkers, and would eat bread, although they evidently 

 gave the preference to meat, thus confirming the opinion that their diet is naturally of a 

 mixed character. 



Passing by the curious little dormouse-like animals which are classed under the genus 

 Dromicia, we arrive at the true Phalangists, the first of which is the Tapoa, or Sooty Phalan- 

 gist, an animal which has been gifted with its rather dismal title in consequence of the unif orm 

 smoky-black color of its fur. 



The Sooty Phalangist is tolerably common in Van Piemen' s Land, where it is much sought 

 after on account of its skin, which is highly valued by white and black men for the purpose of 

 being manufactured into a soft, warm, and beautiful fur. As with the preceding animal, there 

 is considerable variation in the tint of the coat, some specimens being entirely clothed with a 

 uniform dark, dull, blackish-brown, while the fur of others is warmly tinged with a chestnut 

 hue. The tail of this animal is extremely full, the hair being thick, long, and very bushy, 

 more so than that of the body and limbs. One of the most remarkable points in the color- 

 ing of this animal is the fact that the abdomen and the under portions of its body retain 

 the brown hue of the upper portions instead of being covered with the beautiful white or 

 yellowish fur which is found in nearly all the preceding animals. The ears of the Tapoa are 

 rather elongated, and triangular in form, thickly covered with hair on the outside, but naked 

 on their inner faces. 



In the structure of this creature a rather peculiar formation is well denned, and as it is one 

 of the distinctive marks by which the genus Phalangista is separated from its neighbors, it is 



