Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 2: With Descriptions of the Recently Explored Region of Australia Felix, and of the Present Colony of New South WalesMitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone)
History
Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia, Volume 2: With Descriptions of the Recently Explored Region of Australia Felix, and of the Present Colony of New South Wales
Mitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone)
Australia -- Discovery and exploration; Mitchell, T. L. (Thomas Livingstone), 1792-1855
The most remarkable incident of this days' journey was the discovery of
an animal of which I had seen only the head among the remains found in
the caves at Wellington Valley. This animal was of the size of a young
wild rabbit and of nearly the same colour, but had a broad head
terminating in a long very slender snout, like the narrow neck of a wide
bottle; and it had no tail. The forefeet were singularly formed,
resembling those of a hog; and the marsupial opening was downwards, and
not upwards as in the kangaroo and others of that class of animals. This
quadruped was discovered on the ground by our native guides, but when
pursued it took refuge in a hollow tree from which they extracted it
alive, all of them declaring that they had never before seen an animal of
that kind.*
(*Footnote. The original has been deposited in the Sydney Museum but,
having shown my friend Mr. Ogilby a drawing of it, he has noticed the
discovery in the Proceedings of the Zoological Society for 1838
describing the animal as "belonging to a new genus closely allied to
Perameles, but differing in the form of the forefeet, which have only two
middle toes resembling those of a hog, and in the total absence of tail.
This genus has been named by Mr. Ogilby Chaeropus ecaudatus.)
June 17.
The cattle were not brought up until ten o'clock, an unusual
circumstance, and one which curtailed the day's journey. The course of
the river compelled us to travel southward, and even to the westward of
south; but we found better ground by keeping on the open forest-land of
box or goborro, which in general occupied a very extensive space between
the river and the bergs of soft red sandhills on which grew the
callitris.
SALSOLAE ON THE PLAINS.
The plains covered with salsolae which, as I have just remarked, before
the rain, were considered to afford the best surface for travelling on,
had now become so soft as to be almost impassable, at least by our
wheels, and I this day avoided them as much as I could. The margin where
the box or goborro grew was in many parts hollowed into lagoons or
ana-branches of the river, so that it was desirable to shape our line of
route as closely by the base of these bergs or sandhills as possible.
PICTURESQUE SCENERY ON THE RIVER.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account