I Have Somewhere Read That The Islanders In The
North Of Scotland Treat The Rank Carcasses Of The Fish-Eating
Birds In The Same Manner.
The order Rodentia is here very numerous in species:
of mice alone I obtained no less than eight kinds.
[4] The
largest gnawing animal in the world, the Hydrochaerus capybara
(the water-hog), is here also common. One which I
shot at Monte Video weighed ninety-eight pounds: its
length from the end of the snout to the stump-like tail, was
three feet two inches; and its girth three feet eight. These
great Rodents occasionally frequent the islands in the mouth
of the Plata, where the water is quite salt, but are far more
abundant on the borders of fresh-water lakes and rivers.
Near Maldonado three or four generally live together. In
the daytime they either lie among the aquatic plants, or
openly feed on the turf plain. [5] When viewed at a distance,
from their manner of walking and colour they resemble pigs:
but when seated on their haunches, and attentively watching
any object with one eye, they reassume the appearance
of their congeners, cavies and rabbits. Both the front and
side view of their head has quite a ludicrous aspect, from
the great depth of their jaw. These animals, at Maldonado,
were very tame; by cautiously walking, I approached within
three yards of four old ones. This tameness may probably
be accounted for, by the Jaguar having been banished for
some years, and by the Gaucho not thinking it worth his
while to hunt them. As I approached nearer and nearer
they frequently made their peculiar noise, which is a low
abrupt grunt, not having much actual sound, but rather arising
from the sudden expulsion of air: the only noise I know
at all like it, is the first hoarse bark of a large dog. Having
watched the four from almost within arm's length (and they
me) for several minutes, they rushed into the water at full
gallop with the greatest impetuosity, and emitted at the
same time their bark. After diving a short distance they
came again to the surface, but only just showed the upper
part of their heads. When the female is swimming in the
water, and has young ones, they are said to sit on her back.
These animals are easily killed in numbers; but their skins
are of trifling value, and the meat is very indifferent. On
the islands in the Rio Parana they are exceedingly abundant,
and afford the ordinary prey to the Jaguar.
The Tucutuco (Ctenomys Brasiliensis) is a curious small
animal, which may be briefly described as a Gnawer, with
the habits of a mole. It is extremely numerous in some
parts of the country, but it is difficult to be procured, and
never, I believe, comes out of the ground. It throws up at
the mouth of its burrows hillocks of earth like those of the
mole, but smaller. Considerable tracts of country are so
completely undermined by these animals, that horses in passing
over, sink above their fetlocks.
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