"We had not forgotten him," Frank responded, "though we have not yet written a description of this singular creature. He seems to be the connecting link between bird and beast, as he has the body of the mole or rat and the bill and webbed feet of the duck. The female lays eggs like a bird, but it suckles its young, which no bird was ever known to do. The one we saw at Melbourne was larger than the largest water-rat; they told us that it lives in a hole which it digs for itself on the banks of the rivers, is very sensitive to sound, and hard to catch. Its fur is as fine as sealskin, and if it were larger it would be systematically hunted for its skin."
"When the first specimens were taken to Europe," said Doctor Bronson, "it was thought to be a hoax like the Feejee mermaid, and it was some time before the naturalists were convinced of its genuineness. When its existence was officially acknowledged, it received the name of ornithorhynchus."
"But isn't there a question as to whether the platypus lays eggs?" Fred asked.
"I believe there is," replied the Doctor, "but the latest student of the subject, Mr. W. H. Caldwell, of Cambridge College, England, who visited Australia in 1884-85 for the special purpose, says the creature is oviparous; so we will rest on his authority."
HOME OF THE DUCK-BILL.
From Australia in general the conversation changed to South Australia in particular. It was directed to the mineral products of the colony, in consequence of an invitation that had just been received by the Doctor to visit a famous copper-mine. The Doctor explained to the youths that copper was the principal mineral resource of the colony; the exportations of mining products in the year 1885 amounted to £344,451, of which £322,983 were in refined copper or copper ore.
"Gold has been found in several localities in the colony," he continued, "but never in such quantities as in Victoria or New South Wales, the annual export rarely exceeding £70,000, equal to $350,000. There are also deposits of silver, lead, bismuth, and tin, and many persons believe that the colony will ultimately prove very attractive as a mining region; but up to the present time copper is very far in advance of anything else."