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MR.  G.  BENNETT  ON  THE  HISTORY  AND  HABITS  OF 
On  laying  open  the  left  uterus  it  was  found  to  contain  two  unattached  ova,  of  a  white 
colour,  and  of  transparent  appearance  while  left  in  the  moisture  of  the  uterus,  but  which 
became  opake  when  dry :  being  covered  by  a  dense  membrane  they  could  be  handled 
and  examined  without  any  fear  of  injury.  The  parietes  of  the  right  uterus  were  also 
much  distended  and  thickened,  but  on  an  examination  of  its  interior  it  was  found  not 
to  contain  any  eggs. 
In  the  second  female  shot  this  evening  the  left  uterus  was  more  distended  than  in  the 
former  specimens,  and  in  the  usual  situation  a  fine  cluster  of  ova,  covered  by  a  thin 
pellicle,  was  seen.  The  right  uterus  was  much  smaller,  hardly  appearing  to  be  at  all 
distended,  and  was  destitute  of  ova.  On  laying  open  the  left  uterus  it  was  found  to 
contain  a  single  ovum  of  the  size  of  a  buck-shot. 
The  next  morning  (October  7) ,  at  Mr.  Manton's  farm,  I  accompanied  one  of  the 
aborigines  called  Daraga  to  the  banks  of  the  Yas  River,  to  see  the  burrow  of  an  Orni- 
thorhynchus,  from  which  he  told  me  the  young  had  been  taken  last  summer.  I  asked 
him,  "  What  for  he  dig  up  Mallangong  ?"  "  Murry  budgeree  patta"  (very  good  to  eat), 
was  his  reply.  On  arriving  at  the  spot,  which  was  situated  on  a  steep  bank  about 
which  long  grass  and  various  other  herbaceous  plants  abounded,  and  close  to  the  river, 
my  guide,  putting  aside  the  long  grass,  displayed  the  entrance  of  the  burrow,  distant 
rather  more  than  a  foot  from  the  water's  edge.  In  digging  up  this  retreat  the  natives 
had  not  laid  it  entirely  open,  but  had  delved  holes  at  certain  distances,  always  intro- 
ducing a  stick  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  direction  in  which  the  burrow  ran, 
previously  to  again  digging  down  upon  it.  By  this  method  they  were  enabled  to  ex- 
plore the  whole  extent  of  it  with  less  labour  than  if  it  had  been  laid  entirely  open.  The 
termination  of  the  burrow  was  broader  than  any  other  part,  nearly  oval  in  form,  and 
the  bottom  was  strewed  with  dry  river  weeds,  &c.,  a  quantity  of  which  still  remained. 
From  this  place  our  sable  friend  said  he  had  taken  last  season  (December)  three  young 
ones,  which  were  about  6  or  8  inches  long,  and  covered  v.tth  hair.  The  whole  of  the 
burrow  was  smooth,  extending  about  20  feet  in  a  serpentine  direction  up  the  bank. 
I  may  here  mention,  that  when  a  half-civilized  young  savage  accompanied  me  one 
day  in  a  search  after  Water-Moles'  burrows,  he  expressly  cautioned  me  against  putting 
my  hand  into  the  burrow  :  "  No  put  hand  in,  for  he  make  smell  hand."  The  burrows 
have  one  entrance,  usually  about  the  distance  of  a  foot  from  the  water's  edge,  and  an- 
other under  the  water,  communicating  with  the  interior  by  an  opening  just  within  the 
upper  entrance.  It  is  no  doubt  by  this  entrance  under  the  water  that  the  animal  seeks 
refuge  within  its  burrow  when  it  is  seen  to  dive  and  not  to  rise  again  to  the  surface ; 
and  when  the  poor  hunted  quadruped  is  unable  to  enter  or  escape  from  the  burrow  by 
the  upper  aperture,  it  makes  a  second  effort  by  its  river  entrance. 
The  search  for  a  second  burrow  near  the  first  afforded  me  an  opportunity  of  witnessing 
the  means  the  aborigines  adopt  to  track  these  animals.  Our  black  zoological  collector 
pointed  out  to  me  in  the  course  of  his  peripatetic  lecture,  or  rather  demonstration  of 
