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National Geographic : 1916 Dec
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A EUCALYPTUS LOG FROM TASMANIA A great many of these logs are sawed up into paving blocks and exported to the ends of the earth (see page 495) wallabies are the commonest of the larger Australian mammals. Theyplay the role of the American buffalo, formerly feed ing by thousands on the" grass-covered plains, but are now disappearing under the attack of the sportsman and fur merchant. In earlier days they formed the chief item of food for the native "blackfellows" and for the pioneers. They are generally harmless and shy, and when approached the females hastily gather their young into their pouches and retreat to shelter by a series of enormous hops at a rate exceeding 15 miles an hour. When attacked at close quarters they de fend themselves vigorously. An "old man" kangaroo standing on his hind legs and tail, with his head as high as that of a man, is no mean antagonist. He boxes skillfully, and with his power ful hind leg and claw can rip up a dog at a single stroke. When streams or lakes are handy he seizes a dog, or even a man, and holds him beneath the water until life is extinct. The "native bear," or koala, belies his name except in form. He is a lethargic, unintelligent, fluffy little creature, an at tractive though unresponsive pet. In the night-time he feeds on the leaves of the gum trees; during the day he usually sleeps curled up in the ork of a branch. The young spend their time in their mother's pouch or hanging to the fur on her back. The wombat plays the part of the woodchuck; the bandicoot is the rat, and the Tasmanian wolf the wild cat, of the marsupial family. The most numer ous group of marsupials, like their name sakes, the 'possum of the South, hide away in daytime in hollow logs or trees, or hold themselves on branches with their long, prehensile tails, coming out after dark to feed on leaves or fruit. Their fur is in great demand. A HUNDRED KINDS OF SNAKES! Australia is supplied with 1oo species of snakes, three-fourths of them venomous. The big pythons and rock-snakes are harmless, but as one travels from the tropics southward the dangerous varieties increase in number, and in Tasmania all are venomous, though only five are really deadly, and fortunately these are rarely seen. The continent is also abundantly sup plied with lizards. Three hundred and
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