The King-tailed Opossum abounds in the
extensive gum-forests, where it lives in the
hollow trunks and branches of trees, coming
out only at night to feed upon the aromatic
leaves, especially those of the peppermint-tree
(which, be it said, is no relation to the
herb peppermint). Five kinds of opossum
have been distinguished by naturalists, differing
in little but their size and colour. The
largest of the species, the Fox-Opossum, is
also the scarcest. The handsomest, the Black
Opossum, is perhaps the most common and
is about as big as a large fire-side cat, its
colour varies from a dark brown to a glossy
black, The head is like that of a fox, with
long erect ears. The hind feet are supplied
with double-jointed thumbs, on which there
are no claws, though very strong claws are
to be found on all the other toes; and therefore
these feet resemble the hands of a
monkey, and are used in the same manner in
climbing trees. The tail of the opossum is
from twelve to fifteen inches long, and from
its power of firmly grasping any substances
is of great use to its owner up among the
trees, where he may be often seen swinging,
by this live rope, from a spreading branch.
Out of their skins, which are covered with a
soft warm fur, the natives make to themselves
cloaks. They stitch the skins together with a
pointed bone for needle, and the long fine
sinews drawn from, the kangaroo's tail for their
thread. The skins are now much valued by
the colonists, and no bushman considers that
he is fully equipped for travelling if he has
not a good " 'possum-skin-rug " strapped to
his saddle, or, if he be a pedestrian, across his
shoulders.

The way in which the natives get the skins
is worth describing, though, I dare say, pretty
familiar already to the reading public.
Selecting a tree on which fresh scratches indicate
the recent ascent of an opossum, the naked
black cuts with the little tomahawk that he
carries in his right hand, a small notch in the
bark just large enough to admit the great toe
or a couple of fingers. Three feet higher, and
a little on one side, he. cats another notch,
and, as high as he can reach, a third. Then
placing the toe of the right foot in the lowest
notch, and the fingers of the left hand in the
highest one, he raises himself from the
ground; and, hanging by the slight hold,
makes a fourth notch above his head, to
which he instantly removes his fingers, at the
same time raising the last foot to the second
notch. So he goes on, and rapidly continues
his ascent, striking short quick blows and
clinging to the bark like a monkey; or, as
sailors say, holding on by his eye-lids, until
he has climbed up to the first branch. From
that point he is able quickly to discover the
retreat of the opossum, which he at once
secures, killing it by a tap on the head, and
then throwing it down to his companions.
The women are very expert at this work. I
have seen one ascend a tree, at least twenty
feet in circumference and rising to a height
of sixty feet before it threw out a branch
or a single protuberance large enough for
any foot to rest upon. The Van Dieman's
Land natives adopt another method, and, I
believe that some of the Australian tribes
also practise it. Several strips of strong bark
are twisted and knotted together until a
girdle is obtained large enough to encircle the
trunk of the tree, and at the same time the
body of the climber. Spreading his arms
round the tree, his hands grasping the bark
girdle, within which he stands, the black
fellow tosses it up so that it catches on the
further side of the trunk, and he is then able
to draw up his body to a level with it. There
he repeats the process, pressing his body close
to the tree, and again throwing up the girdle,
by which he once more raises himself, and so
on, till the summit is attained.

Opossum shooting is good sport by
moonlight, when the game is plentifully visible.
The animals are then easily seen among the
lofty trees, to which they cling so closely that
they look like large woody excrescences upon
its crooked limbs. This appearance, I suppose,
is illustrated by the well worn story of the
Yankee who could make so ugly a face that
any 'possum seeing it dropped from the tree in
a fit. " But," said he, " I grinned at one sitting
on a high branch, one night for two hours,
without bringing him down; and when I
came down in the morning expecting to see
him dead in the tree, I found that my
'possum was only a great knot on the limb, and
I'd grinned all the bark off it."

Of the same family as the opossum, but
constituting a distinct group, is the Flying
Squirrel; that is a most beautiful creature. It
is smaller than the English squirrel, and it
has, like it, a long bushy tail, that curls over
its back. Between the fore and hind legs, on
each side, extends a broad membrane, from
which the animal receives its name, and which
enables it to take strange flying leaps about
the thinly wooded forests. The fur is
extremely soft: the colour a delicate grey, with
a narrow black line traversing the whole
length of the back. The wings are edged by
a dark band, which is again fringed by a line
of fine white fur. The under part of the body
is of a pure white; the head is dark grey;
and the bright eyes are set in two circles of
deep black, which give a very arch expression
to the face. In its habits this squirrel
resembles the opossum, excepting that, when
feeding, it is in almost continual motion,
leaping from tree to tree with great rapidity
and ease. Although incapable of leaping to a
spot above its starting point, it yet descends
so gradually as to pass over a very considerable
distance in its flight. In some parts of
Australia, the Flying Squirrel is very
abundant, in other parts, however, it is quite
unknown.

Returning from the tree-tops to the earth,
I fall upon the Bandicoot, a little animal very