The Days of a Man Higoy 



Primitwe The nativc mammals are, with a few exceptions, 

 mammals marsupials — animals of primitive type and simple 

 structure, aUied to our opossum. The kangaroo, 

 wombat, and wallaby reach a considerable size, and 

 one beast from the cold hills of Tasmania, a species 

 of phalanger locally called "opossum," carries re- 

 markably beautiful, woolly, dark-brown fur. This 

 last fact I have good reason to know, as Hoover gave 

 me a big, deliciously warm, much-prized rug made 

 from its coat. Still more primitive than marsupials 

 are the monotremes — simplest of all mammals — 

 hairy creatures laying leathery eggs like those of rep- 

 tiles. Of each of the two species still extant in the 

 world, the Australian duckbill — Ornithorhynchus — 

 and the Australian porcupine — Tachyglossus — I 

 secured specimens for Stanford. 



In Australia the aviary is a common attachment to 

 a well-kept garden, and often an incongruous variety 

 of birds may be induced to live together in harmony. 

 Dining once with the chief justice of an Australian 

 state, I noticed through the window an enclosure full 

 of gulls, curlews, snipe, and various seabirds and 

 waders, as well as parrots and pigeons. "Sir Samuel 

 has a curious taste in chickens," I remarked cheer- 

 Not a fully to my hostess. For the rest of the meal she kept 

 povUry solemnly explaining that it was not a poultry yard 

 but an aviary, and the birds were not chickens ! 



Hoover was on his way from Melbourne to the 

 mines of Broken Hill on the edge of New South Wales. 

 He was then thirty-three years of age, a quiet, boy- 

 ish-looking, soft-spoken young man, but with very 

 positive opinions and high ideals. After I had intro- 

 duced him to Kernot, the latter said: "Your friend 



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