84 A NATURALIST IN TASMANIA ch, 



by local evidence and has been supported by the 

 testimony of an Anglican bishop. Perhaps an 

 unusually large Platypus, numbers of which haunt 

 the banks of the lake in the evening, or a Musk- 

 duck or Black Swan, striking in upon the pastoral 

 reflections of shepherd or ecclesiastic, have given 

 rise to the legend. 



Although the greater part of my time was 

 occupied in investigating the waters of the lake, 

 I spent several afternoons and evenings hunting 

 Kangaroo or Opossum in the bush, accompanied 

 by a shepherd and dogs. The Lake District, 

 owing to its few inhabitants and the vast stretches 

 of virgin country, is very full of game. Among 

 the low hills covered with somewhat thin scrub, 

 which surround the lake, are a great number of 

 the Tasmanian Kangaroo {Macropus Bennettii)^ 

 really a large Wallaby, with greyish fur, and 

 standing about four feet in height. This Wallaby 

 is a variety of the species found in Victoria, and 

 haunts the open plains and thin scrub, but its 

 numbers are being greatly thinned owing to the 

 value of its skin, and it will probably soon suffer 

 the fate of the large Forrestier Kangaroo, which 

 is now practically extinct in Tasmania. It is 

 exciting work hunting these animals with dogs 

 among the Gum-trees and undergrowth, as they 

 spring past with lightning bounds, and it is 

 difficult to be ready for them as one stumbles 

 and trips over dead logs, or pushes a way through 

 Eracken, Wattle, and Tea-tree. The only other 



