rect the makers of systems in assorting the general
ranks of nature. The largest of the gerbua kind which are to
be found in the ancient continent do not exceed the size of a
rabbit. The kanguroo of New Holland, where it is only to be
found, is often known to weigh above sixty pounds, and must
consequently be as large as a sheep. Although the skin of that
which was stuffed and brought home by Mr. Banks was not much
above the size of a hare, yet it was greatly superior to any of
the gerbua kind that have been hitherto known, and very
different in many particulars. The snout of the gerbua, as has
been said, is short and round, that of the discovered animal
long and slender; the teeth also entirely differ, for as the
gerbua has but two cutting teeth in each jaw, making four in
all, this animal, besides its cutting teeth, has four canial
teeth also; but what makes a more striking peculiarity, is the
formation of its lower jaw, which, as the ingenious discoverer
supposes, is divided into two parts which open and shut like a
pair of scissors, and cut grass, probably this animal's
principal food. The head, neck, and shoulders are very small
in proportion to the other parts of the body; the tail is
nearly as long as the body; thick near the rump and tapering
towards the head and ears, which bear a slight resemblance to
those of the hare. We are not told, however, from the
formation of its stomach to what class of quadrupeds it
belongs: from its eating grass, which it has been seen to do,
one would be apt to rank it among the ruminating animals; but
from the canial teeth which it is found to have, we may on the
other hand suppose it to bear some relation to the carnivorous.
Upon the whole, however, it can be classed with none more
properly than with the animals of the gerbua kind, as its
hind-legs are so much longer than the fore; it moves also
precisely in the same manner, taking great bounds of ten or
twelve feet at a time, and thus sometimes escaping the fleetest
greyhound, with which Mr. Banks pursued it. One of them that
was killed proved to be good food; but a second, which weighed
eighty-four pounds, and was not yet come to its full growth,
was found to be much inferior."

1787, Surgeon Anderson, quoted by W. Eden, in `History of New
Holland' (second edition), p. 71:

"However, we must have a far more intimate acquaintance with
the languages spoken here [Van Diemen's Land] and in the more
northern parts of