ADDENDA.

WE are favoured, by the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne, with the figures and descriptions of two very rare animals, sent to them from New South Wales, by James Hunter, Esq. Governor of that settlement.

The one, like most of the animals found in these new settlements, has a false belly or pouch, for the reception of its young after their protrusion from the uterus; common to every animal of the Opossum kind.

The other seems to be an animal sui generis; it appears to possess a threefold nature, that of a fish, a bird, and a quadruped, and is related to nothing that we have hitherto seen: we shall not attempt to arrange it in any of the usual modes of classification, but content ourselves with giving the description of both these curious animals as they have been transmitted to us.

"THIS animal was found upon an island on the coast of New South Wales, in latitude 40' 36" S. where considerable numbers were caught by the company of a ship which had been wrecked there on her voyage from Bengal to Port Jackson.

"I received this animal alive, by a vessel which I had sent to the relief of the sufferers: it was exceedingly weak when it arrived, as it had, during its confinement on board, refused every kind of sustenance, except a small quantity of boiled rice, which was forced down its throat. I had it frequently taken out of the box in which it was kept, that it might receive the benefit of the warmth of the sun, which, however, it did not seem to enjoy; but whenever it could shelter itself under a shrub, there it would continue and sleep. It refused every kind of food on shore as it had done on board, but we could see it sometimes nibble a little of the roots of

:

rushes or grass it grew weaker every day, was exceedingly harmless, and would allow any person to carry it about. After having lived, with scarcely any kind of food, for six weeks, it died; and its intestines and brain having been taken out, I preserved the body in spirits, for the inspection of the learned members of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne.

"It is about the size of a Badger, a species of which we supposed it to be, from its dexterity in burrowing in the earth, by means of its fore paws; but on watching its general motions, it appeared to have much of the habits and manner of a Bear.

"Its head is large; the forehead, above the eyes, is particularly broad, from which it tapers to the nose, * which is a hard grisly substance, and seems well adapted for removing the earth when it burrows: it has two cutting teeth in each jaw, long and sharp like those of a Kanguroo, with a space of about an inch between them and the grinders, which are strong and well set: from the structure of its teeth, it does not appear to be a carnivorous animal: its eyes are small and black; its ears short and pointed; its paws are somewhat like those of a Bear its weight appeared to be about forty pounds. It runs awkwardly, in the manner of a Bear, so that a man could easily overtake it. There is something uncommon in the form of its hinder parts; its posteriors do not round off like those of most other animals, but fall suddenly down in a sloping direction, commencing at the hip joint, and descending to the knee joint of the hind legs; from this joint to the toe it appears to tread

* Its nose and upper lip resemble those of the Porcupine.

flat upon the ground; its tail is so short, as hardly to be discovered: its colour is that of a cream-coloured brown, intermixed with black hairs. This animal has lately been discovered to be an inhabitant of the interior of this country also. Its flesh is delicate meat. This one is a female, and has the false belly for the security of its young. The mountain natives call it Wombach."