Letter received by Banks from Arthur Phillip, 26 September 1788 (Series 37.07) - No. 0004

[Page 4]

none have lived more than three weeks. I had four a live at one time & am not without hope of rearing some of them next year.  They are very cleanly & use the two fore feet like a Monkey. My Greyhounds now frequently run them down & yesterday kill'd one of the large kind, that after being blooded weigh'd a 140 pounds.  The smaller kind live on the dry grounds & seldom weigh more than fifty or Sixty pounds. The large sort keep where there is rich good grass. They are very good eating, full of flesh, but not an ounce of fat in the whole Carcase.

Norfolk Island is