Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2

by George Grey

APPENDIX C.

CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS THE GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE MAMMALIA OF AUSTRALIA, WITH NOTES ON SOME RECENTLY DISCOVERED SPECIES, BY J.E. GRAY, F.R.S., ETC. ETC., IN A LETTER ADDRESSED TO THE AUTHOR.

British Museum, 10th July 1841.

MY DEAR SIR,

The very little attention which has hitherto been paid to the distribution of the animals of Australia, and the very incorrect manner in which the habitats of the different species are given in collections and systematic works, have induced me to send you, with the description of the new species recently brought from that country, a table showing at one view the distribution of the different species which have hitherto been recorded as found in Australia, as far as the materials at my disposal will allow me.

I am the more induced to do so as I believe I have now under my care the richest collection of the animals of this country in any Museum; as, besides the specimens which we have been collecting from different quarters, with the kind assistance of Mr. Ronald Gunn, Mr. Harvey, and yourself, we have just purchased a complete series of all the species and varieties brought by Mr. Gould from different parts of this Continent; and these specimens were all marked with the habitat immediately after they were procured.

The first column in the following table indicates the species found in New South Wales, and the east part of the Continent; the number in the column specifying the particular habitats where the species has been observed,

1. Sydney, and its neighbourhood.
2. The Rivers Hunter and Maitland, and Goulburn Plains.
3. Liverpool Plains.
4. Liverpool Range.
5. The Namoi and Mokai Rivers.
6. Bong-Bong.
7. Yarrundi.
8. Interior (generally).
9. Australian Alps.
10. Murrumbidgee River.
11. Moreton Bay.
12. Clarence River.
13. Port Phillip.
14. Bathurst.
15. Interior of Australia Felix.
16. Murray River.
17. Bayunga River.
18. Darling River.
19. Glenelg River.
20. Port Stevens Mountains.
21. Port Macquarie.

The second column refers to South Australia, and the numbers in it to: