93 
the island itself is composed, in its lower strata, of a shelly lime- 
stone, sometimes white, sometimes reddish, deposited in horizontal 
beds, whose thickness varies from 2 to 3 decimetres (7 to 11 inches). 
The shells encrusted in this rock-mass are almost all univalves; they 
belong chiefly to the genus Natica of M. de Lamarck and agree 
closely with the species of Natica which are found living at the foot 
of these rocks. Doubtless they have been petrified for many cen- 
turies, for, besides the difficulty of extracting them whole from the 
matrix owing to their intimate adhesion with it, they may frequently 
be found more than 50 metres (150 feet) above the present sea- 
level.” The islands Dorre and Dirk-Hartighs are similar in struc- 
ture to Bernier Island, and the remarks which I shall make on 
the vegetable and animal products of the latter are applicable to 
the two others also.” 
“The human species does not exist on these lands, and we found 
no positive trace of his presence or of his visits.” 
“A single species of Mammal occurs, namely the Banded Kan- 
garoo 1 (Kangurus fasciatus , n.sp.), the smallest and most elegant 
species of this extraordinary genus of New Holland animals, which is 
characterised chiefly by the conical form of its body, by the dispro- 
portion of its feet, by the pouch in which the young are carried and 
nourished, etc. The present species is distinguished at first sight 
from all those known at present by 12 or 15 transverse bands on 
the back, narrow, of a light brown tint, less regular and less decided 
on the top of the shoulders where they begin to appear, but be- 
coming much more distinct and browner as they descend towards 
the tail, at the base of which they terminate. These stripes disappear 
on the sides and cannot be traced on the ventral surface; the face 
and the feet are light yellow, whilst the abdomen is pale grey and 
sometimes almost white; the rest of the fur is grey varying in dark- 
ness in different individuals. The ears in this species are proportion- 
ately shorter than in any other of the genus; the same is true of the 
tail, which is also much more feeble, and which, being without hair, 
closely resembles that of a very large rat. The other characters, the 
conoidal form of the body, the disproportion between the fore and 
hind limbs, the distribution of the toes, nails, etc., are the same as 
in all the other kangaroos. But all these details, which will be given 
in the zoological part of our work, do not belong to this account; it 
will suffice to have indicated the principal characters of the pretty 
little animal wfith which we are concerned, and M. Lesueur ? s 
picture will sufficiently supply those particulars which I must here 
pass by in silence. 
The Banded Kangaroo peoples the three islands of Bernier, 
Dorre, and Dirk Hartigs, but we did not find it on any part of 
the continent or on any of the other islands which we afterwards 
surveyed. We shall see in the sequel the same phenomenon for all 
1 Lagostrophus fasciatus, Peron. 
