cannot be heard at a greater distance than thirty or forty yards.” Mr. Bass chased one of these animals, 
lifted it off the ground and laid it along his arm, as if carrying a child. It made no noise, nor any effort 
to escape, not even a struggle. Its countenance was placid and undisturbed, and it exhibited no discom- 
posure, although in the course of a mile walk it was frequently shifted from arm to arm, and sometimes 
laid over the shoulder ; when, however, he proceeded to secure it by tying its legs, while he left it to cut 
a specimen of a new wood, it became irritated, whizzed, kicked and scratched most furiously, and snapped 
off a piece from the elbow of Mr. Bass’s jacket with its powerful incisors. Its temper being now ruffled, 
it remained implacable all the way to the boat, ceasing to kick and struggle only when quite exhausted. 
Mr. G. Bennett in his “Wanderings,” speaking of one of these animals, kept in a state of domestication 
at Been in the Tumat country, states that “ it would remain in its habitation till dark; it would then come 
out and seek for the milk-vessels, and should none he uncovered, it would contrive to get off the covers 
and bathe itself in the milk, drinking at the same time. It would also enter the little vegetable garden 
attached to the station in search of lettuces, for which it evinced much partiality. If none could he found, 
it would gnaw the cabbage stalks, without touching the leaves. Although this animal is very numerous 
in the more distant parts of the colony, it is difficult to procure from the great depth to which it burrows.” 
“The specimen dissected by Sir Everard Home,” says Mr. Waterhouse, “and which was brought from 
one of the islands in Bass’s Straits by Mr. Brown, the eminent botanist, lived as a domestic pet in the 
house of Mr. Clift for two years. This animal was a male, measured two feet and two inches in length, 
and weighed about twenty pounds. The observations made by Sir Everard Home on the habits of this 
animal whilst in confinement, correspond pretty closely with those already given. ‘It burrowed in the 
ground whenever it had an opportunity, and covered itself in the earth with surprising quickness ; it was 
very quiet during the day, hut constantly in motion in the night ; was very sensible to cold ; ate all kinds 
of vegetables, but was particularly fond of new hay, which it ate stalk hy stalk, taking it into its mouth, 
like a Beaver, by small bits at a time. It was not wanting in intelligence, and appeared attached to 
those to whom it was accustomed, and who were kind to it. When it saw them it would put up its fore 
paws on their knees, and when taken up would sleep in the lap. It allowed children to pull and carry 
it about, and when it bit them, it did not appear to do it in anger or with violence.’ ” 
This animal, like almost every other of the Australian quadrupeds, is eaten by the natives, but as an 
article of food it must give place to the Kangaroo and its affines. I partook of it myself, but always found 
its flesh tough, with a musky flavour, and not altogether agreeable. 
Mr. Bass remarks that the size of the two sexes is nearly the same, hut that the female is somewhat 
the heavier, and such appears to be the case ; the weight, whenever ascertained, being always in favour 
of the female. 
In Mr. Gunn’s paper on the Mammals indigenous to Tasmania, published in the “ Proceedings of the 
Royal Society of Van Diemen’s Land,” above referred to, that gentleman states that — “The Wombats of 
Tasmania differ much in colour in different localities, some being dirty black, and others of a silvery grey. 
They are found on the tops of the mountains, and thence to the sea-coasts ; and are very numerous in some 
localities, 234 having been killed in less than a year upon a farm, at present occupied by me, on the 
St. Patrick’s River.” 
For the details of the internal structure of this curious animal, I must refer my readers to the “ Lemons 
d’Anatomie Comparee ” of the celebrated Cuvier, and to the writings of our equally well-known countrymen, 
Sir Everard Home, in the “ Philosophical Transactions ” for 1808, and Professor Owen, in the “ Proceedings 
of the Zoological Society ” for 1836. The original memoir of the latter author, on Phascolomys latifrons, 
will be found in the “Proceedings” of the same Society for 1845. 
The general hue of the tolerably long and very coarse fur of this animal is grey-brown ; next the skin, 
the hairs of the ordinary fur of the upper surface are dusky brown, with the exposed portion of a dirty 
white, but the longer and coarser hairs are black at the point ; on the under surface the hairs are dusky 
at the root, and dirty white for the remainder of their length, the general hue being paler than that of the 
upper surface ; the muffle is naked and black ; the small pointed ears are well clothed with hairs ; the legs 
are short and strong, and the feet broad, naked beneath, and covered with minute, round, fleshy tubercles ; 
the claws are large ; those of the fore feet solid, or not concave beneath, slightly curved and depressed ; 
those of the hind feet are curved, slightly compressed, and concave beneath ; the hairs of the moustaches 
are numerous, strong and black, as are also some long bristly hairs which spring from the cheeks ; the 
tail is a mere tubercle, and is hidden by the fur. 
“The skeleton,” says Mr. Waterhouse, “presents certain peculiarities well worthy of attention: the 
number of its ribs, and consequently of its dorsal vertebrae, is unusually large, being fifteen, whilst twelve 
or thirteen are usually found in the Marsupialia ; the body of the atlas vertebra remains permanently 
cartilaginous; the humerus, besides having the inner condyle perforated, has an opening between the 
condyles ; and the patella, or knee-bone, is wanting.” 
The Plates represent the head of the natural size, and the entire animal considerably reduced. 
