y, and frequently succeed in catching them this way.

Governor Hunter saw a native watch one for above an hour before he
attempted to spear it, which he did through the neck and fore leg: when
on shore, it used its claws with so much force that they were obliged to
confine it between two pieces of board, while they were cutting off the
barbs of the spear, to disengage it. When let loose, it ran upon the
ground with as much activity as a land tortoise; which is faster than the
structure of its fore feet would have led us to believe. It inhabits the
banks of the lakes, and is supposed to feed in the muddy places which
surround them; but the particular kind of food on which it subsists is
not known.

The male is 171/2 inches in length, from the point of the bill to the
extremity of the tail. The bill is 21/4 inches long; and the tail,
measuring from the anus, 41/2 inches.

The body of the animal is compressed, and nearly of the same general
thickness throughout, except at the shoulders, where it is rather
smaller. The circumference of the body is 11 inches. There is no fat
deposited between the skin and the muscles.

In the female, the size of the body is rendered proportionally larger
than that of the male, by a quantity of fat lying every where under the
skin.

The male is of a very dark brown colour, on the back, legs, bill, and
tall; the under surface of the neck and belly is of a silver grey. In the
female the colour is lighter.

The hair is made up of two kinds; a very thick fur, one half of an inch
long, and a very uncommon kind of hair, three quarters of an inch long.
The portion next the root has the common appearance of hair; but for a
quarter of an inch towards the point it becomes flat, giving it some
faint resemblance to very fine feathers: this portion has a gloss upon
it; and when the hair is dry, the different reflections from the edges
and surfaces of these longer hairs give the whole a very uncommon
appearance. The fur and hair upon the belly is longer than that upon the
back.

Externally there is no appearance of the organs of generation in either
sex; the orifice of the anus being a common opening to the rectum and
prepuce in the male, and to the rectum and vagina in the female.

There was no appearance that could be detected, of nipples; although the
skin on the belly of the female was examined with the utmost accuracy for
that purpose.

The head is rather compressed. The bill, which project