ight to its chest, like a professional
runner, and it will go as far as sixteen feet at one jump. From twenty
to thirty species of kangaroos are found in Australia and the
surrounding islands.

A member of the Marsupialia family which does not exist out of the small
island of Tasmania is the zebra-wolf, the most savage and destructive of
all the marsupials. This ferocious beast is about the size of the
largest kind of sheep-dog. Its short fur is of a yellowish-brown color,
and its back and sides are handsomely marked with black stripes. It is a
fleet runner, propelling itself with its hind-legs, which are jointed
like those of a kangaroo, although it goes on all fours. Its gait is a
succession of quick springs--a peculiarity of nearly all the animals of
Tasmania.

[Illustration: EMU AND ZEBRA WOLVES.]

The zebra-wolf is very troublesome to the sheep-raising farmers, and
constant watch is required to prevent its depredations on the flocks and
herds. It inhabits caverns and rocks in the deep and almost impenetrable
glens in the neighborhood of the high mountain ranges, from whence it
sallies forth at night to scour the great grassy plains in search of
food. It preys on the brush kangaroo, the great emu, and any small birds
or beasts it can capture.

Another strange beast is the porcupine ant-eater, or Tasmanian hedgehog.
It is much larger than the English hedgehog, and can not roll itself
into a ball. Its back is covered with very stout spines protruding from
a coat of thick gray fur, and in place of a mouth it has a round bill
about two inches long. One of these strange creatures was once presented
to an English lady living at Hobart Town. For safety she placed it at
the bottom of a deep wooden churn until better lodgings could be
provided. Shortly after, on going to look at her captive, she found it
clinging by its long claws to the top of the churn, with its funny
little head peeping over. The bill gave an indescribably droll
expression to its queer pursed-up face, while its bright eyes peered
restlessly about from their furry nooks. There was something so pitiful,
pleading, and helpless in the expression of the little creature, that
the lady, fearing she could not make it happy in captivity, at once set
it free in her garden. It immediately began to burrow, casting up a
circular ridge of earth, beneath which in a moment it vanished, and
never was seen again.

The duck-bill is a near kinsman of the porcupine ant-