112 THE KOALA. 
they have been well fed by the white settlers. When the fresh body of a 
Vulpine Phalangist is opened, a kind of camphorated odour is diffused from 
it, which is probakly occasioned by the foliage of the camphor-perfumed 
trees in which it dwells, and the leaves of which it eats. 
The fur of this animal is not valued so highly as that of the Tapoa, prob- 
ably because it is of more common occurrence, for the colour of the hair is 
much more elegant, and its quality seems to be really excellent. Some few 
experiments have been made upon the capabilities of this fur, and, as far as 
has yet been accomplished, with very great success. Good judges have de- 
clared that articles which had been made from this fur presented a great 
resemblance to those which had been made from Angola wool, but appeared 
to be of superior quality. The hat-makers have already discovered the value 
of the fur, and are in the habit of employing it in their trade. 
The natives employ the skin of the “ opossum” in the manufacture of their 
scanty mantles, as well as for sundry other purposes, and prepare the skins 
in a rather ingenious manner. As soon as the skin is stripped from the 
animal’s body, it is laid on the ground, with the hairy side downwards, and 
secured from shrinking by a number of little pegs which are fixed around its 
edges. The inner side is then continually scraped with a shell, and by de- 
grees the skin becomes perfectly clean and pliable. When a sufficient number 
of skins are prepared, they are ingeniously sewn together with a thread that 
is made from the tendons of the kangaroo, which, when dried, can be separated 
into innumerable filaments. A sharpened piece of bone stands the sable 
tailor in place of a needle. From the skin of the same animal is also formed 
the “kumeel,” or badge of manhood, a slight belt, which no one is permitted 
to wear until he has been solemnly admitted among the assembly of men. 
In its colour, the Vulpine Phalangist is rather variable, but the general huc 
of its fur is a greyish-brown, sometimes tinted with a ruddy hue. The tail 
is long, thick, and woolly in its character, and in colour it resembles that of 
the body, with the exception of the tip, which is nearly black. The dimensions 
of an old male are given by Mr. Bennett as follows: Total length, two feet 
seven inches; the head being four inches in length, and the tail nearly a 
foot. 
THE quaint looking animal which is popularly known by the native name of 
KoaLa, or the AUSTRALIAN BEAR, is of some importance in the zoological 
world, as it serves to fill up the gulf that exists between the phalangistines 
and the kangaroos. 
The Koala is nocturnal in its habits, and is not very unfrequently found, 
even in the localities which it most affects. It is not nearly so widely spread 
as most of the preceding animals, as it is never known to exist in a wild 
state except in the south-eastern regions of Australia. 
Although well adapted by nature for climbing among the branches of trees, 
the Koala is by no means an active animal, proceeding on its way with very 
great deliberation, and making sure of its hold as it goes along. Its feet 
are peculiarly adapted for the slow but sure mode in which the animal pro- 
gresses among the branches by the structure of the toes of the fore-feet or 
paws, which are divided into two sets, the one composed of the two inner 
toes, and the other of the three outer, in a manner which reminds the observer 
of the feet of the scansorial birds and the chameleon. This formation, 
although well calculated to serve the animal when it is moving among the 
branches, is but of little use when it is upon the ground, so that the terres- 
trial progress of the Koala is especially slow, and the creature seems to crawl 
rather than walk. 
It seems to be a very gentle creature, and will often suffer itself to be 
captured without offering much resistance, or seeming to trouble itself about 
