actly like the
kangaroo.

It would appear, from the great similarity in some part or
other of the different quadrupeds which we find here, that there
is a promiscuous intercourse between the different sexes of all
those different animals. The same observation might be made also
on the fishes of the sea, on the fowls of the air, and, I may
add, the trees of the forest. It was wonderful to see what a vast
variety of fish were caught, which, in some part or other,
partake of the shark: it is no uncommon thing to see a skait's
head and shoulders to the hind part of a shark, or a shark's head
to the body of a large mullet, and sometimes to the flat body of
a sting-ray.

With respect to the feathered tribe, the parrot prevails; we
have shot birds, with the head, neck, and bill of a parrot, and
with the same variety of the most beautiful plumage on those
parts for which that bird here is distinguished, and a tail and
body of a different make and colour, with long, streight, and
delicate made feet and legs; which is the very reverse of any
bird of the parrot kind. I have also seen a bird, with the legs
and feet of a parrot, the head and neck made and coloured like
the common sea-gull, and the wings and tail of a hawk. I have
likewise seen trees bearing three different kinds of leaves, and
frequently have found others, bearing the leaf of the gum-tree,
with the gum exuding from it, and covered with bark of a very
different kind.

There are a great variety of birds in this country; all those
of the parrot tribe, such as the macaw, cockatoo, lorey, green
parrot, and parroquets of different kinds and sizes, are cloathed
with the most beautiful plumage that can be conceived; it would
require the pencil of an able limner to give a stranger an idea
of them, for it is impossible by words to describe them*. The
common crow is found here in considerable numbers, but the sound
of their voice and manner of croaking, is very different from
those in Europe. There are also vast numbers of hawks, of various
sizes and colours. Here are likewise pigeons and quails, with a
great variety of smaller birds, but I have not found one with a
pleasing note.

[* See very accurate representations, drawn from
nature, and described by that ingenious and able naturalist, John
Latham, Esq; in Phillip's Voyage.]

There have been several large birds seen since we arrived in
this port; they were supposed, by those who first saw them, to be
the ostrich