We had some difficulty in finding branches within our reach; there were many trees on the shore, but their trunks were bare.

We found, at last, at some distance, an extensive thicket, composed of a beautiful shrub, which Ernest recognized to be a species of mimosa.

The trunk of this plant is knotty and stunted, about three or four feet high, and spreads its branches horizontally, clothed with beautiful foliage, and so thickly interwoven, that the little quadrupeds who make their dwellings in these thickets are obliged to open covered roads out of the entangled mass of vegetation.
At the first blow of the hatchet, a number of beautiful little creatures poured forth on all sides.

They resembled the kangaroos of our island, but were smaller, more elegant, and remarkable for the beauty of their skin, which was striped like that of the zebra.
"It is the striped kangaroo," cried Ernest, "described in the voyages of Peron.

How I long to have one.