ZOOLOGY. 



We shall conclude our description of this curious ani- 

 mal with the following account of the taking of a live one, 

 as mentioned by Mr. Bass, in the Second Volume of 

 Collins's Account of New Holland: — " The Wombach 

 has not any claim to swiftness of foot, as most men could 

 run it down. Its pace is hobbling or shuffling, something 

 like the aukward gait of a bear ; but it bites hard, and is 

 furious when provoked. It was in such circumstances only 

 that I ever heard its voice, it made a low cry, between a 

 hissing and a whizzing, which could not be Jieard at the 

 distance of more than forty yards. I chaced one of them, 

 and with my hand placed under his belly, suddenly lifted 

 him oft' the ground w ithout hurting him, and laid him upon 

 his back along my arm like a child. It made no noise, nor 

 any effort to escape, not even a struggle. Its countenance 

 was placid and undisturbed, and it seemed as contented as 

 if it had been nursed by me from its infancy. I carried the 

 beast upwards of a mile, and often shifted him from arm to 

 arm, sometimes laying him upon my shoulder, all of which 

 he took in good part ; until being obliged to secure his legs 

 while I went into the brush to cut a specimen of new wood, 

 the creature's anger arose with the pinching of the twine ; 

 he whizzed with all his might, kicked and scratched fu- 

 riously, and snapped off a piece from my jacket, with his 

 grass-cutting teeth. Our friendship Avas here at an end, 

 and the creature remained implacable all the way to the 

 boat, ceasing to kick only when it was exhausted. Besides 

 Furneaux's Islands, the Wombach inhabits, as has been 

 seen, the mountains to the westward of Port Jackson; in 

 both these places its habitation is under ground, being ad- 

 mirably formed for burrowing, but to what depth it descends, 

 does not seem to be ascertained. His food is not well 

 known, but it seems probable that he varies it, according to 

 the situation in which he may be placed. The stomachs of 



