Chapters 18-19 Summary and Analysis

After a short plane ride, Bryson arrives in Perth, the only large city on Australia's western coast. He encounters an echidna, the only creature related to the bizarre duck-billed platypus. The echidna and the platypus are the sole members of the animal group known as monotremes, and their curious nature, part reptile, part mammal, has baffled scientist since their discovery. He encounters the hedgehog-like echidna while strolling through Kings Park on his way to the Perth botanical gardens, which he proclaims to be Australia's best. Bryson points out how the varied and in many cases harsh environments of Australia promote specialization in species and is responsible for Australia's staggeringly high numbers of unique flora and fauna.

Perth owed much of its success to the boom in mineral mining Australia experienced after 1950, much of along the western coast. Bryson walks...