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MR.  G.  BENNETT  ON  THE  HISTORY  AND  HABITS  OF 
the  animals  were  filled  with  mud  and  gravel,  among  which  comminuted  fragments  of 
insects  and  minute  shell-fish  could  be  plainly  discovered. 
The  various  contradictory  accounts  that  have  been  given  on  the  authority  of  the 
aborigines  (who  may  be  supposed,  from  their  so  often  seeking  these  animals  for  food, 
to  be  able  to  state  their  habits  correctly,)  as  to  the  animal  laying  eggs  and  hatching 
them,  induced  me  to  take  some  pains  to  find  out  the  cause  of  error ;  and  being  now 
perfectly  satisfied  that  ova  were  produced  in  the  uteri,  I  could  the  more  readily  deter- 
mine the  accuracy  or  inaccuracy  of  the  accounts  which  I  might  receive  from  the  na- 
tives. I  determined,  however,  not  to  question  any  who  had  been  repeatedly  questioned 
before  on  the  same  subject ;  but  some  time  after,  when  I  visited  the  out-stations  in 
the  Tumat  country,  where  such  questions  had  never  been  previously  asked,  I  made  in- 
quiries among  the  most  intelligent. 
The  Yas  natives  in  the  first  instance  asserted  that  the  animals  lay  eggs,  but  very 
shortly  afterwards  contradicted  themselves.  To  ascertain  what  dependence  could  be 
placed  on  them,  I  made  a  drawing  of  an  oval  egg,  which  was  recognised  to  be  hke  that 
of  the  Mallangong.  I  then  made  a  drawing  of  a  round  egg,  and  that  also  was  declared 
to  be  cabango  (egg)  of  the  Mallangong.  It  was  also  declared  that  "  old  woman  have  egg 
there  in  so  many  days"  (the  number  of  which  they  did  not  know)  ;  that  the  young  ones 
"  tumble  down";  and  that  two  eggs  are  laid  in  one  day.  An  account  subsequently  ob- 
tained from  a  native,  who  appeared  anxious  to  explain  the  fact,  would  lead  to  the  belief 
that  the  animal  is  ovoviviparous ;  but  yet,  from  the  difiiculty  they  find  in  expressing 
themselves  correctly  in  our  language,  we  often  misunderstand  them.  He  asserted  the 
animal  to  be  oviparous,  but  when  desired  to  procure  the  eggs  he  replied,  "  Bel  cabango 
(no  egg)  tumble  down  ;  bye  bye,  pickaninny  tumble  down."  In  the  Tumat  country  the 
answers  were  readily  and  satisfactorily  given ;  and  afterwards  more  minute  questions 
being  put  to  them  through  my  interpreter,  the  result  was  the  same.  "  Tambreet  make 
egg  tumble  down?"  was  the  first  query  I  made.  "Bel"  (no)  was  the  reply.  "No 
egg  (corbuccor)  tumble  down ;  pickaninny  make  tumble  down."  This  accorded  with 
my  observations,  for  it  was  at  the  season  that  this  inquiry  was  made  that  the  young 
Duckbills  hereafter  noticed  were  found,  as  if  just  brought  forth,  in  the  burrow.  The 
natives  are  of  course  accurate  in  their  observation  of  the  breeding-season  of  animals, 
upon  which  their  principal  means  of  sustenance  in  this  country  depend. 
On  showing  6ne  of  the  natives  at  Yas  the  preparation  of  the  uteri,  he  recognised 
them  as  the  place  "  where  pickaninny  is  made."  When  he  saw  the  small  eggs  in  the 
uterus  on  the  opposite  side,  (for  the  empty  one  was  first  shown  him,)  he  first  stared,  and 
then  said,  "  Cabango,  cabango"  (egg,  egg)  ;  but  even  with  this  before  him  no  satis- 
factory reply  could  be  procured  from  him  whether  the  animal  laid  and  hatched  them. 
On  the  whole  we  may  infer  that  no  dependence  can  be  placed  on  native  accounts,  but 
that  naturalists  must  seek  for  information  in  their  own  investigations. 
On  the  following  day  (6th  of  October)  the  Yas  River  was  much  swollen  by  the  con- 
