NORTH AUSTRALIAN MAMMALIA. 203 



Pseudochirus dahlii. " Wogoit. " 



Before entering the big central tableland of Arnhem Land, 

 the traveller will in the neighbourhood of the western sources of 

 the river Mary find a very peculiar granitic formation. 



From the plain country, the soil of which chiefly consists of 

 a coarse granitic sand, there inwardly rises the huge Eucalyptus 

 forest, hill by hill, with wild torn forms, and on the very hills 

 grows plentifully the cypress of North Australia, Callitris robusta 

 (vulg. cypress-pine). 



These hills, which are only parted by small valleys, never 

 show any primitive rock, but rise from the granite like colossal 

 heaps of stones and debris. Granitic boulders in all sizes 

 and forms are heaped up on each other to a height of more 

 than a hundred feet, and through crevasses and passages one 

 may, crawling or walking, penetrate the whole of the dark 

 interior of the mountain. In these surroundings I found, in 

 May, 1895, besides the usual cave-dwellers of the north, Dasyurus 

 halocatus, Petrogale brachyotis, and the rare P. concinna, a Pseudo- 

 chirus new to science. 



The natives called it " Wogoit," and in the ' Zool. Anzeiger,' 

 No. 490, 1895, and in the ' Proceedings of the Zoological Society 

 of London,* Prof. R. Collett, of Christiania, has described it 

 under the name of Pseudochirus dahlii, " the Rock Phalanger." 



Subsequent expeditions showed me that the species also oc- 

 curred numerously in the great central tableland ; but outside these 

 localities I never discovered the slightest trace of the animal. 



The Wogoit is a strictly nocturnal animal, which spends the day 

 sleeping in the caves and crevasses of the granitic heaps, choosing 

 the darkest recesses as a resting-place. After sundown it crawls 

 out from cover, seeking food in the blossoming gum trees, such as 

 Eucalyptus miniata and tetrodonta. It also commonly frequents 

 a species of Terminalia, which carries a fleshy, and even to the 

 human palate, savoury stone-fruit. At the break of day the 

 Wogoit again takes refuge in the dark depths of the caves. 



Generally the animals are found in pairs, male and female, 

 sometimes accompanied by a half-grown young one. When at 

 rest the animals very often lie squeezed flat in some crevice, 

 without regard as to its being horizontal, vertical, or slanting, or 



* Shortly to be published. — Ed. 



