CHAPTER XXXIX.

A QUEER COUNTRY.

OSQUITOES!” ex.
claimed Rick.
" “Mosquitoes in December ?

  

That seems like turning
~~~“ things upside down.”
“Yes,” said Mr. Bright,.

“it is a sign that summer indeed has come in Australia. The

BEES! BEES!

whole insect-tribe is on the wing, and you will find that mosquitoes
are very partial to new-comers! Plenty of flies, too; oceans of them;
and bees too, what a quantity!”

“Uncle Nat told: us,” said Ralph, “that Australia is a queer
country, for various reasons, and among others, for the creatures that
were here, and I guess we must set down mosquitoes as one. Anything
else, please?”

Mr. Bright was obliging as a dictionary, and told all he knew.

« As your uncle said, our country is queer, on account of its creatures.
We can’t boast of leopards or tigers or lions. We can’t scare up a wolf
that I ever heard of. About the most destructive thing on four legs
that we have is the dingo or wild dog. He worries the sheep fearfully.
The dingo has a big, bushy tail and pointed ears, and makes you
think somewhat of the fox. They go in packs: and yell at night
hideously. They steal out of their holes in the hills or where the scrub

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