and called by the natives, <i>womat, wombat</i>, or
<i>womback</i>, according to the different dialects,
or perhaps to the different renderings of the wood rangers
who brought the information . . . It burrows like the badger."

1799. D. Collins, `Account of New South Wales (1802),'
vol. ii. p. 153 [`Bass's Journal,' Jan.]:

"The <i>Wom-bat</i> (or, as it is called by the natives of Port
Jackson, the <i>Womback</i>,) is a squat, thick, short-legged,
and rather inactive quadruped, with great appearance of stumpy
strength, and somewhat bigger than a large turnspit dog."

1802. D. Collins, `Account of English Colony in New South
Wales,' vol. ii. p. 156:

"In the opinion of Mr. Bass this Wombat seemed to be very
oeconomically made."

18x3. `History of New South Wales' 0818), p. 431:

"An animal named a wombat, about the size of a small
turnspit-dog, has been found in abundance in Van Diemen's Land,
and also, though less frequently, in other parts of New South
Wales. Its flesh has in taste a resemblance to pork."

1827. P. Cunningham, `Two Years in New South Wales,' vol. i.
p. 318:

"The wombat, a large animal of the size of a mastiff,
burrowing in the ground, feeding on grass and roots
and attaining considerable fatness."

1832. J. Bischoff, `Van Diemen's Land,' p. 175:

"The dogs had caught . . . two badgers or woombacks."

1846. G. H. Haydon, `Five Years in Australia Felix,' p. 58:

"The Wombat is a large kind of badger, which burrows in the
ground to a considerable depth, and is taken by the blacks for
food; it makes a noise, when attacked in its hole, something
similar to the grunting of a pig."

1848. W. Westgarth, `Australia Felix,' p. 129:

"Mere rudimentary traces (of a pouch) in the pig-like wombat."

1853. J. West, `History of Tasmania,' vol. i. p. 325:

"The Wombat, commonly called in the colony Badger
(<i>Phascolomys wombat</i>, Peron.), is an animal weighing
forty to eighty pounds, having a large body with short legs.
Notwithstanding its burrowing habits, and the excessive
thickness and toughness of its skin, it is usually so easily
killed that it is becoming less and less common."

1855. W. Blandowski, `Transactions of Philosophical Society
of Victoria,' vol. i. p. 67:

"Wombat. This clumsy, but well-known animal (<i>Phascolomys
wombat</i>), during the day conceals himself in his gloomy lair
in the loneliest recesses of the mountains, and usually on the
banks of a creek, a