several sharp doubles,
and then gets among the branches or close to the trunk of a fallen
tree, and remains so perfectly still that she will allow you almost to
ride over her without moving, and in this way she often escapes.

"A tolerably good kangaroo will generally give a run of from six to ten
miles; but in general they do not run that distance in a straight line,
but make one large ring back to the place where they were found, though
the larger ones often go straight away."

The Brush kangaroo (_Macropus [Halmaturus] Bennettii_, Waterh.) is
universally distributed over Tasmania, and in some localities was
formerly very numerous indeed, but the war of extermination constantly
waged at all seasons against this species, for the sake of its skin,
has, in many places, entirely destroyed it, and rendered it scarce
everywhere. Many thousands of skins have been annually exported from
Launceston alone, and nearly all the leather used in the colony for
ladies' and gentlemen's boots and shoes is made from the skin of the
brush kangaroo, which is thicker and better than that of the larger
species.

The Wallaby (_Macropus [Halmaturus] Billardieri_, Desm.) is the smallest
species of kangaroo, and inhabits thickets; and although described by
Mr. Gould as being gregarious, is never seen in flocks, as is the
forester kangaroo.

All the different species of kangaroo are admirable food, and are now in
much request by the residents in the towns as a delicacy, having in soup
a flavor somewhat similar to that of hare. No others of the indigenous
quadrupeds are usually used for food, although occasionally bushmen eat
the wombat and echidna, and, more rarely, the bandicoots and kangaroo
rats.

The Platypus (_Ornithorhynchus anatinus_, Shaw) has for many years been
so great a subject of interest to the zoological world that little is
left to detail. It is still not uncommon in the pools and small streams
on the table land of the western mountains; at the source of the river
Derwent, Lake St. Clair; and in most of the rivers and streams in the
more remote parts. Those who feel any interest in the peculiar structure
of this very remarkable animal, and its congener the Porcupine (_Echidna
setosa_, Cuv.), can find full details in Professor Owen's very elaborate
and admirable paper, in the _Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology_, on
the _Monotremata_.[269]

Nearly all the Tasmanian quadrupeds are nocturnal in their habits, or,
when not