The shovels soon laid bare a little tunnel, which the guide said was made by the animal and led to its nest. With some eagerness the men followed up this tunnel, digging carefully. The process was long. The tunnel wound about and seemed to have no end. At last, with a cry of triumph, the guide laid open a small circular chamber, and picked up a ball of fur. “Lo, the mallangong!” The animal was rolled up, its long, flat bill being turned about so that it rested on the fur-clad back. The feet were drawn up under the body so as to be invisible, and the captive seemed either dead or very sound asleep. The trader carried his prize home, and soon it became lively and friendly. Almost all creatures like sugar and milk; very few disdain bread. The prisoner accepted kindly the novel food offered to it; enjoyed the sunlight; lost all fear of humanity when it was not treated with inhumanity; recognized the voice of its master; came at his call; and when he seated himself in a chair promptly climbed to his shoulder and surveyed its new surroundings with great interest. Now that it was out of the water it was found to have nostrils in the extremity of its bill, small, bead-like eyes shining from the mass of fur, and ears acute enough, though they were merely holes hidden in the depths of the fur. The hind-feet, while webbed like those of a duck, were palmed like those of a mole, and spurred like those of a rooster. While it enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine, in which it would lie curled up in a ball, as we sometimes see a cat or a dog, it preferred darkness for its explorations. At night it crawled about the room, worked its way up the wall by bracing against the furniture, and rummaged everywhere with its busy feet and broad bill. Perhaps it was searching for its friends, its native stream, and some soft earth wherein to burrow. A pile of shavings or raw cotton and straw afforded the nearest approach to an earth bank that it could find in the warehouse, and in such a heap it would dig until it reached the wall, and then it would curl itself up and take some comfort in being securely hidden. A rat or squirrel in such a case would have gnawed through the wooden wall and departed without taking formal leave; but the mallangong could not break prison in this fashion, because it has no true teeth, only several horny protuberances on each jaw.