52 
ALMOST HUMAN 
the small shell-fish, mussels, earthworms and other edibles that form 
his natural diet. 
The captive got on remarkably well, and the Zoo authorities were 
very proud of their prize.' News reached Government House of the 
strange pet, and the Governor expressed a wish to see the rarity at close 
quarters. One morning Sir Gibson Carmichael with a few other gentle- 
men, went up to pay a visit of ceremony to the platypus, and he was 
highly amused at the way the queer little thing acknowledged Mr. Wilkie’s 
friendliness by coming at his call. After watching it for a while, eating, 
moving, and playing in the water, the distinguished visitor was asked 
if he would like to handle it. Yes; he would, indeed. So Mr. Wilkie 
placed it in the vice-regal hands, all the time holding its back claws care« 
fully, for fear the platypus would be no respecter of persons. Then 
the captive was let go, and they watched it take to the water — its natural 
refuge in trouble — and departed, satisfied with the result of the 
morning’s inspection. 
Later in the day, Mr. Wilkie, anxious to discover whether the 
platypus had suffered as the result of his accumulated honors, went to 
look for him. There was no response to the friendly call, and for a 
long time search was in vain, until a fern log was overturned and a 
very sick little platypus was found huddled beneath it. Its bill was 
open, and Mr. Wilkie at first thought a piece of meat had got stuck in 
its throat, but examination proved this to be incorrect, and that the 
trouble was approaching death. He hastened to take his pet to a warm 
room, to wrap it in a blanket before a fire, but before he reached the 
door of the house the platypus was dead. Some creatures evidently 
cannot support the weight of undue dignity. 
A WELL EXECUTED ESCAPE. 
That platypus lived for about two months in the gardens, which so 
far is the record time one has been kept. Another was found one day 
and placed in the same aviary, and he seemed well content, and was 
very friendly. Mr. Wilkie began to think he was about to win another 
pet when it was discovered, about a fortnight after he was placed there, 
that he had cut his way through the strong galvanised half-inch mesh 
wire netting, and had got away. His tracks could be very easily 
followed, because of the sweep of his bushy tail. He was traced to a 
large pond, and there, of course, he was safe, because a platypus always 
burrows about a foot below low water mark, and tunnels along the bank 
in an upward slanting direction until he finds a spot that suits him for 
a sleeping chamber. This is above the high water mark, so he is always 
