THE TIGER.

THE TIGER.Paraguay abounds in tigers from the number of its cattle, which are the food of these beasts. They are all marked with black spots, but the skin of some is white, that of others yellow. As the African lions far exceed those of Paraguay in size and ferocity, the African tigers yield in like proportion to the Paraguayrians in the size of their bodies. In the estate of St. Ignatius, which belongs to the Cordoban college, we found the skin of a tiger, that had been killed the day before, fastened to the ground with wooden pegs: it measured three ells and two inches in length, which is no smaller than the dimensions of the hide of a full grown ox. But the largest tiger is much slenderer than any ox.Tigers, whether springing out like cats or in the act of flight, run extremely quick, but not for a long time together; for as they soon tire, an active horseman may overtake and kill them. In the woods they defend themselves amongst the trees and rocky places, and pertinaciously repulse assailants. It is incredible what slaughters they daily commit in the estates. Oxen, sheep, horses, mules, asses, they kill without difficulty, but never eat till putrid. They devour stinking flesh in preference to sweet, as the following facts will clearly prove. Should a Spaniard, an Indian, and a Negro sleep togethernear the same fire and in the same place, the tiger will reject the Spaniard and Indian without hesitation, and rush to devour the Negro; for Negroes' flesh they reckon a dainty, because it is most stinking. Tigers will devour, to the last morsel, horses' carcasses streaming with liquid putrefaction, though living horses be at hand. Both Spaniards and Indians conspire against these destructive beasts. They construct a very large chest, like a mousetrap, composed of immense pieces of wood, and supported upon four wheels, and drag it with four oxen into that place where they have discovered traces of tigers. In the farthest corner of the chest, a very stinking piece of flesh is placed, by way of bait, which is no sooner laid hold of by the tiger, than the door of the chest falls and shuts him in, and he is killed by a musket or a spear put through the interstices of the planks. In the town of the Rosary we spied a tiger not yet full grown, but menacing and formidable to all he met, in a wood, a gun's shot distant from my house. Myself and three armed Spaniards flew to kill him; on seeing us, by flying here and there amongst the trees and brambles, he contrived to get out of sight. Following his footsteps we found him lurking in an aged, very large, and almost hollow tree, which, to deprive the tiger of all egress or means of escape, we strewed about with pieces of wood, makinga hole in the side of it, that the lurking beast might be put to death with arms, which I at last effected without the least danger to myself. You cannot conceive how the tiger leapt up and down in the hollow of the tree after receiving a few wounds. The skin, which was pierced with shot and the sword till it was like a sieve, could be made no use of, though the flesh afforded the Abipones a sumptuous supper. But as tigers are possessed of singular strength, swiftness, and cunning, it is scarcely safe for one person to pursue them in the open plain. I do not deny that a tiger may be sometimes pierced or strangled, by a Spaniard or Indian alone. But a Spaniard or Indian is often torn to pieces by a tiger from the spear's thrust missing, or failing to inflict a mortal blow; for unless the interior of the head, the heart, or the spine of the back be wounded, this powerful beast does not fall, but gets infuriated, and attacks the aggressor with rage proportioned to the pain of the wound.On this account, whenever any of those beasts are to be destroyed, many men armed with spears unite together; the use of the musket alone is almost always dangerous; for unless the tiger is knocked down by the first ball, he leaps furiously to the place whence the fire proceeded, and tears the man that inflicted thewound. He, therefore, that does not choose to run the risk of his life, goes accompanied on each side by two spearmen, who pierce the tiger as it advances to attack him, after he has fired his musket. Taught by the danger of others, I found that bullets must not be rashly used against tigers. Travelling with six Mocobios, from the city of Santa Fè to the town of St. Xavier, I passed the night on the banks of the round lake, in the open air, as usual; the earth was our bed, the sky our covering. The fire, our nightly defence against tigers, shone for a while in the midst of us as we slept, but at length grew very low. In the middle of the night a tiger crept towards us. My Indian companions, that they might not appear distrustful of the friendship of the Spaniards, had begun the journey unarmed. Anticipating no danger, I had neglected to load my musket. At my direction, firebrands were dexterously hurled at the approaching tiger. At each throw he leapt back roaring, but resumed courage, and returned again and again, more threatening than before. Meantime I loaded my musket. But as the darkness deprived me of all hope of killing the tiger, and left me only the desire to escape, I loaded my musket with plenty of shot, and fired it off without a ball. The beast, alarmed at the horrid thundering, instantly fled, and we lay down to sleepagain, rejoicing in our success. Next day, at noon, in a narrow path, bounded on one side by a lake, and on the other by a wood, we met two tigers, which would have been caught with a noose by the pursuing Mocobios, had they not fled and hidden themselves in the wood.Innumerable tigers are yearly caught with leathern thongs by the Spaniards and Indians, on horseback, and are strangled, after being swiftly dragged for some time along the ground. The Pampas wound the tiger's back with a slender arrow, and kill him instantly. At other times, for the same purpose, they use very strong arrows, or three round stones suspended from thongs, which they hurl at the tiger. How great their strength must be you may judge from this, that if they meet two horses in the pastures tied together with a thong to prevent their escaping, they will attack and slay the one, and drag him, along with the other live one, to their den. I should not have believed this, had I not myself witnessed it, when travelling in company with the soldiers of St. Iago. Their cunning is equal to their strength. If the wood and the plain deny them food, they will procure it by fishing in the water. As they are excellent swimmers, they plunge up to their neck in some lake or river, and spout from their mouths the white froth, which, swimming on the surface of thewater, the hungry fishes eagerly devour as food, and are quickly tossed on to the shore by the claws of the tigers. They also catch tortoises, and tear them from their shells by wondrous artifice, in order to devour them. Sometimes a tiger, lurking unseen under the high grass or in a bramble bush, quietly watches a troop of horse passing by, and rushes with impetuosity on the horseman that closes the company. On rainy and stormy nights they creep into human habitations, not in search of prey or food, but to shelter themselves from the rain and from the cold wind.Though the very shadow of this beast is enough to create alarm, yet those are most to be dreaded which have already tasted human flesh. Tigers of this description have an intense craving after men, and continually lie in wait for them. They will follow a man's footstep for many leagues till they come up with the traveller.It will be proper in this place to give account of some methods of defence against tigers. If you climb a tree to avoid falling into the clutches of a tiger, he will ascend it also. In this case urine must be your instrument of defence. If you cast this into the eyes of the tiger, when he is threatening you at the foot of the tree, you are safe—the beast will immediately take to flight. In the night a blazing fireaffords great security against tigers. Dogs also are dreaded by them, though these they sometimes cruelly flay and tear to pieces. The Spaniards have mastiffs which are very formidable to tigers. In the town of St. Ferdinand a tiger often stole by night into the sheepfolds, killed the sheep, sucked their blood, and leaving their bodies, carried away their heads. This audacity at length appearing to us no longer endurable, at sun-set twenty Abipones armed themselves with spears to kill the mischievous beast, and placed themselves in ambush. Another, armed with pistols, lay down in the midst of the flock. Though the men were silently concealed in the court-yard close by, yet the tiger, aware of the circumstance, either from the smell or hearing, durst not approach the sheepfold. At length, despairing of his arrival, the watchers, about night-fall, returned to their huts. Scarcely had they turned their backs, when the tiger returned and tore to pieces ten sheep. To search him out, all the Abipones that were at home set off on foot, armed on both sides with spears, ready to strike whenever the beast appeared. At the request of the Indians, I closed the company, armed with a gun and bayonet and some pistols. After diligently exploring the vicinity, as no tiger appeared, we returned home withouteffecting our business, and saluted by the hisses of the women. But the very same tiger at sun-set daily approached the town, to tear away part of the carcass of a dead horse, without ever being caught by the Indians who lay in wait for him. The Abipones have continual contests with tigers, and unless the spear misses, are uniformly victorious. Hence an Abipon is very rarely devoured by a tiger, but innumerable tigers are devoured by the Abipones. Their flesh, though horridly ill-savoured even when quite fresh, is eagerly craved after by the equestrian savages, who also drink melted tiger's fat, esteeming it nectar, and even believing it a means of producing valour. They all detest the thought of eating hens, eggs, sheep, fish, and tortoises, imagining that those tender kinds of food engender sloth and languor in their bodies, and cowardice in their minds. On the other hand, they eagerly devour the flesh of the tiger, bull, stag, boar, anta, and tamandua, having an idea that, from continually feeding on these animals, their strength, boldness, and courage are increased. In repeated battles with tigers many persons are wounded by their claws. The scars, after the wounds are healed, occasion excessive pain and burning, which no time nor medicine can ever relieve. The tigers themselves are tormented with the heat of their ownclaws, and in order to relieve the pain, they rub them against the treeseibo, and leave the mark of their nails in the bark.The tiger spares no living creature; all it attacks, but with various fortune and success: for horses and mules, unless they save their lives by speedy flight, are generally overcome; asses, when they can gain a place where they may defend their backs, repel the assailant, by going round and round, and kicking very quickly for a long time; but in the open plain they seldom obtain a victory. Cows, trusting to their horns, defend themselves and their calves with the utmost intrepidity. Mares, on the contrary, at the approach of a tiger, desert their foals and take to flight. Antas lie down on their backs, await the advancing foe with expanded arms, and immediately on his assault squeeze him to death, if we may credit the testimony of the natives. Tigers' skins are used by the Abipones for breastplates, for horsecloths, for carpets, and for wrappers. In Spain, every skin is sold for four, and sometimes six German florens. In the hope of gain, a number of Spaniards join together in Paraguay, and go out to hunt tigers. A vast quantity of tigers' skins are yearly sent to Spain. In the city of Sta. Fè, I knew a Spaniard at first indigent, who, from this trade in skins,within a few years excited the envy of others by his opulence.To the tiger kind belong two other wild beasts, but smaller, and not so ferocious. One of them is called by the Spaniardsonza, the other by the Guaraniesmbaracaya. These, though seldom offensive to other animals, often depopulate a whole henroost by night, but are seldom seen by day.THE LION.The Paraguayrian lions seem unworthy of so great a name; for they are quite unlike those of Africa in form, size, and disposition. They never attempt any thing against horses, oxen, and men, and are dreaded only by calves, foals, and sheep. The Paraguayrian lions suit well with the old Spanish saying,No es tan bravo el leon, como se pinta, the lion is not so fierce as his picture. You can scarce distinguish their flesh from veal, so that the Spaniards and Indians devour it with avidity. Their skin is tawny and spotted with white. Their head is large and round, their eyes sparkling, and nose flat. Their whiskers are composed of long hard hairs, like bristles, for I have handled them myself; but hear on what occasion. The guards of the estates, both Spaniards and Indians, had a custom of preserving the heads of the lions andtigers which they slew, fastened with stakes to the folds of the cattle, as testimonies of their vigilance and courage, in the same manner as the heads and hands of criminals are seen fixed to a pole in the place appointed for their punishment. In a certain estate I got up upon the hedges, examined the heads of the lions and tigers, of which there was an immense number, observed their eyes, ears, and teeth, and tore some hair out of the whiskers of the tigers, which resembled wire, were thick at the root, and endued with a kind of elastic property. I cannot understand why the Abipones do not rear the whelps of lions, as they reckon tigers' whelps a dainty, though they are never procured without danger. Before they are full grown they give proofs of their native ferocity, and with their little tender claws and teeth fly upon all they meet, especially in the heat of the sun. One man deprived a tiger's whelp of its teeth and claws, to prevent it from doing any mischief, but though destitute of its arms, it used to rush upon children and calves, and would certainly have crushed and strangled them, had they not been instantly rescued. That the danger might not increase as he grew up, he was forced to be shot.THE WILD CAT.In most of the woods you may see wild cats,differing from the domestic ones in our country in no other respect except that the extremity of the tail is flatter and more compressed, and that they are superior in size. They are also of various colours. The Indians eat them roasted, but being extremely swift and shy, they are not killed without difficulty. We had a young cat in the town of Conception, born of a tame mother and a wild father, than which I never saw a larger or handsomer, or one more ferocious and fugitive.THE ANTA,ORTHE GREAT BEAST.The more secluded woods towards the north are the haunts of this animal, which the Spaniards call the Anta, orLa gran bestia. In size it resembles a full grown ass: in shape, if you except its eyes, head, and feet, a pig. It has rather short ears, inclining towards the forehead, very sharp teeth and lips, like those of a calf, the upper part of which somewhat resembles a proboscis, and is thrust forward by the animal when he is angry. The fore feet are cloven into two hollow nails, the hind feet into three. A smooth unhairy appendage supplies the place of a tail. The skin is of a tawny colour and extremely thick, on which account it is dried in the air by the Spaniards and Abipones, and used for a breast-plate to ward off the blows of swords andarrows, but is penetrable to shot and to spears. This beast flies the sight of man, though possessed of such extraordinary strength as, when caught with a rope, to drag along with him in his flight both horse and rider. It generally sleeps in the day-time, and by night, wandering up and down the recesses of the woods, feeds upon herbs; it frequently betrays itself by the rustling noise it makes in breaking the branches of shrubs and trees as it walks about the woods. The Indians who inhabit the woods lay traps, made of stakes, to catch the antas, or concealing themselves in some thicket, imitate the sound of their voices, and pierce the beasts on their arrival with arrows; for their flesh, either fresh or hardened by the air, is continually eaten by the savages, though its toughness renders it rather unpalatable. In the stomach of the anta lies a pouch, which is often found to contain a number of bezoar stones, scarce bigger than a hazle-nut, not oblong nor oval, but polygonous, and of the colour of ashes or lead. These are thought by physicians superior to the bezoar stones supplied by other beasts, and more efficacious as medicine. Arapotiyu, the young Indian whom I brought from the woods of Mbaeverà, which the savages call the country of the antas, gave me a heap of these bezoar stones:—"Take, father," said he, "these most salutary little stones,which I have collected from the antas I have killed." On my inquiring what virtue they attributed to them, and how they were used in the woods, he replied—"Whenever we are seized with a malignant heat, we rub our limbs with these antas' stones, after warming them at the fire, and receive immediate relief." This use of the bezoar stone I submit to the judgment of physicians, for it must be confessed I never made trial of its virtues. The nails of antas are much esteemed by the Spaniards, as remedies for ill-health, and worn by them as amulets, to defend them from noxious airs: they are said to be sold in the druggists' shops in Europe, for various medicinal purposes, especially for persons afflicted with epilepsy, small-pox, and measles, as is related by Woytz in his Medico-physical Thesaurus, where he affirms that antas are often afflicted with epilepsy or the falling-sickness, and that, to relieve the pain, they rub the left ear with the nail of the fore foot. The truth of the fact must be looked to by those who have affirmed it, and have hazarded the assertion that the anta is called by the Germanselendthier, the miserable beast, because it is subject to epilepsy. But in reality it was called by the old Germanselck, by the Greeks αλκη, and by the Latinsalxoralce. As it appears from all writers, that elks are horned in thenorthern countries of Europe, and as I myself saw, that those in Paraguay have no horns, I began to doubt whether they were not a different animal altogether, and only bore the same name on account of some similitude.I do not agree with those who call elksequi-cervi, mongrel creatures born of a stag and a mare. This cannot be imagined for a moment of the Paraguayrian antas, which inhabit the roughest and most rugged forests, not only unknown but almost inaccessible both to horses and stags. The antas choose plains full one hundred leagues distant, where they can never meet with either of those animals. However this may be, I advise giving credit to those who, in the present age, have written more fully on natural history from authority.THE HUANACO.This animal, which the Spaniards call Guanáco, and the Abipones Hakahátak, as it has no name in Latin, may be called ελαφοκαμηλον, a cameleopard, as the ostrich is called a camel. For whilst it resembles a stag in other particulars, its head, neck, the bunch on its back, the fissure of the upper lip, and the tail a span long, are like those of a camel. Its feet are cloven, and its skin shaggy, and for the most part of a reddish colour. The hair of this beast serves tomake hats with. Its flesh is eaten both by Spaniards and Indians. Its swiftness stands it in the stead of arms. It never attempts to kick or bite, but when offended by any one, spits at him in a rage; this saliva is commonly said first to create a red pustule, and afterwards to bring on the mange. Like goats, these animals inhabit rocks and high mountains, but come down in flocks, at pleasure, for the sake of the pasture in the plains below the mountains; mean time one of the males occupies a high place, whence, like a watchman from a tower, he sees if any danger is near, and surveys every part of the neighbourhood. The whole flock hurries away upon any alarm, the females going before, and the males closing the company. This is seldom a panic terror, for the huanacos, whilst occupying the pastures in the plain, are often caught by the Spanish horsemen; but very swift horses are necessary for this business, as they run extremely quick. I have often seen flocks of these animals, when travelling in Tucuman, on the Cordoban mountains. Hearing the sound of approaching horses, they crowd to the highest summits of the rocks, whence, ranged like soldiers in a long file, they look down upon the horses as they pass underneath, neigh for some time in a manner strongly resembling human laughter, and presently,struck with sudden terror, for they are extremely timorous, scour off in all directions. This spectacle frequently amused and delighted us Europeans. Huanacos, though very wild and shy, may be easily tamed in the towns, when young. Besides the skin and flesh of the huanacos, the bezoar stone, which is often found in their insides, is of value. It sometimes weighs more than a pound, is always oval, scarce smaller than a hen's egg, and painted, like marble, with most exquisite colours. Most probably it derives this medicinal property from the animal's feeding upon wholesome herbs, which grow in the mountains: its virtues, however, are thought little of by the physicians of these times, who despise old prescriptions.THE PERUVIAN SHEEP LLAMÁS.Peru, the neighbour of Paraguay, produces wild animals, in which the bezoar of various colours, forms, and sizes, is found: namely, the native sheep, which the Indians call Llamás, the Spaniards Carneros de la Tierra, and which are used, like beasts of burden, for carrying weights, not exceeding one hundred pounds.THE VICUÑA.This country likewise produces Vicuñas, animalsequal in size to a goat in our country, but not horned, and clothed with wool of a darkish yellow colour, softer than silk, and much esteemed by Europeans. A garment made of this wool cools the body when the sun is oppressively hot. It is said to cure pains in the kidneys, and to assuage the torture of the gout. The flesh of the vicuña, though unsavoury to the palate, is eaten by the Indians; it is also used as medicine. A man who had got a disorder in his eyes, from walking for a long time amidst snow in Peru, was presently relieved of the pain by a piece of vicuña's flesh, applied to the part affected, by an Indian woman.THE PACO, MACOMORO, & TARÙGA.Peru also boasts of pacos, macomoros, and tarùgas, which are almost of the same use and appearance as the former, and in like manner produce the bezoar stone.THE TAMANDUA,ORANT-EATER.The tamandua obtains its name from the ants upon which it feeds. But it does not eat every kind of ant, but only those which the Guaranies callcupis, and their eggs. When these are not to be had, it takes up with little worms, winged insects, honey, and meat cut into very small particles. In bulk it isequal to a very large pig, but superior in length and height. Its head does not correspond to the size of its body. A very small fissure, which is seen in its long snout, serves it for a mouth, under which is concealed a blackish, smooth tongue, slenderer than the goose's quill I am writing with, but twenty-five inches long. This he dips into a hill of ants, scraped together with his nails, and when covered with those insects, or their little eggs, draws back again into his mouth, and swallows them instantly. This animal has small black eyes, middle-sized, and almost round ears, and a blackish skin, interspersed here and there with white, and for the most part hairy. From the extremity of the fore-feet project four curved nails, of which the two middle are very strong, and three inches in length; they are quite necessary arms to the tamandua, for with them he digs up, and removes the turf under which the ants' nests lie. The hind feet have five fingers, furnished with as many nails, and in walking make the same footsteps as a boy. The tail, which is covered with stiff bristles, longer than the hairs in a horse's mane, is as long as his whole body, and so wide that, bent towards the neck, with the hairs expanded on each side like a fan, or fly-flap, it covers his whole body when he sleeps, and defends him not onlyagainst cold, but even against rain. This beast is not able to keep running for any length of time, and may be easily caught by a person on horseback, or even on foot. Its flesh is eaten by the Indians, but not reckoned a dainty. When young it is very soon tamed in the colonies of the Indians, but seldom brought up by them, because it must be chiefly fed upon ants, which are very troublesome to procure.THE WILD BOAR.Four different species of boars abound in Paraguay. The most remarkable are those which have upon their backs a spungy, glandulous little piece of flesh, swelled with a white liquor resembling milk, and scented like musk. This boss is immediately amputated after the animal's death, before the intolerable odour of musk has infected the flesh, and rendered it unfit for use. In woods, near marshes, and marshy fields, wander herds of boars, which are killed, either with a stake, or with arrows, by the Indians. Herds of boars sometimes rushed into the colony of St. Ferdinand, perhaps from the hope of finding food there, perhaps from some other motive. But the Abipones, assembling together, killed a great number of them, and feasted sumptuously upon their flesh for some days. I was told that boars entered thetowns of the Uruguay in the same manner. The Abiponian women make themselves travelling dresses of the skins of this animal, and its bristles are collected into small bundles, and used as combs.VARIOUS KINDS OF LITTLE FOXES.THE ZORRINO.There are three sorts of foxes here, different from those of our country. The Abipones call the larger ones Kaalk, the lesser Licheran, and the least Lichera, which last is named Zorrino by the Spaniards, and by the French Canadians Bête Puante, the stinking beast, or Enfant du Diable, child of the devil; appellations which it justly deserves. This animal, which is equal in size to a small rabbit, of a chesnut colour, and marked on each side by two white lines, though it pleases the eyes by its elegant form, offends the nostrils by its excessive stink. It may be commended for beauty, but not for politeness; for at every passer-by it squirts, with certain aim, a liquor so pestilent, that dogs, if sprinkled with it, will howl dreadfully, and roll themselves for some time on the ground, as if scalded with boiling water. If it touch the eyes, blindness is the certain consequence. If a woollen or linen garment, a stick, or anything else, be sprinkled with it, no farther use can be made of the article on account of the stink, which no art will ever take away. If one of these animals shed his urine in the open plain, the stench is carried by the wind the space of a league. That white liquor shines in the night like phosphorus, and wherever it passes, looks like a ray of fire. If a skunk creep into a house, and scatter any of that terrible liquor, the inhabitants, one and all, rush out, as if the house was on fire, and fly into the street or open plain, to breathe freely, that they may not be stifled with the stench. Therefore, although this animal is very little and weak, it is dreaded extremely by tigers, mastiffs, and all mortals. Its unequalled stink is its means of defence. Whoever desires to possess its most beautiful skin, in order to catch it, without injury to himself, must take it by the tail, and hold it with its head towards the ground; for, by this means, it loses the use of its pestiferous syringe, and cannot squirt out that horrible liquid. Some assert that the fat in the kidneys of the skunk is either the cause, or the receptacle of the stink, and that if this be taken away, the flesh may be eaten, and is not of an unpleasant savour: I envy no one such a dainty.Many have written of the skunk, but generallyfrom the accounts of others: I, alas! from my own experience. I feel both shame and grief in refreshing the sad remembrance of my disaster; but will, nevertheless, relate it, to show you my candour. When, with some fifty companions, we journeyed from the port of Buenos-Ayres, where we first landed, through an immense plain of an hundred and forty leagues, to Cordoba, we were all conveyed in waggons, drawn by four oxen; for a waggon in those deserts serves both for house and bed. Reclining, day and night, upon a mattress, we pursued our journey according to the season, the roads, and the weather. The jolting of this rude vehicle creates nausea, and fatigues the whole frame, so that quitting it at evening, to enjoy the fresh air, was quite a relief. As I was walking with two Spaniards, I spied a skunk gently approaching us: "Look," cried I, "what a beautiful animal is that!" We trusted too much to external appearance. Not one of us perceived what a pest was concealed under this elegant skin. Hastening our steps we all emulously ran to catch the animal, and my ill stars directed that I should outstrip both the Spaniards. The cunning skunk, spying me near him, feigned submission, stood still, and, as it were, offered himself my captive. Distrusting the blandishments of an animal that was unknown to me,I gently touched it with a stick. In a moment it lifted up its leg, and discharged at me that Stygian pest. It sprinkled my left cheek all over, and then victorious, took to flight immediately. That my eyes were spared may be accounted a blessing. I stood thunderstruck, become, in an instant, intolerable to myself; for the horrid stench had diffused itself from my cheek into every part of my body, to my very inner garments; and spreading in a moment through the plain, far and wide, announced what had happened to my companions. Some on foot, some on horseback, they all hastened to look at me, amidst peals of laughter; but, smelling me from a distance, returned a long way back, with greater speed than they had come. Like an excommunicated person, I was shunned by all, and was forbidden to enter the very tent where I used to sup with the rest. I, therefore, betook myself to my own waggon. On asking the Spanish driver if he smelt any thing amiss, he replied that he had been deprived of the power of smell for four years. "Oh! fortunate circumstance!" cried I, for if the driver had been in possession of this faculty, I should have been banished from my own waggon also. Throwing off all my clothes, I washed, wiped, and rubbed my face over and over again. But this was washing the blackamoorwhite. That night I wished I could have been separated from my body, so entirely had that liquid exhalation penetrated my very fibres, especially my cheek, which it burnt like fire. My clothes, all of which I had entirely thrown off, though daily exposed to wind, rain, sun, and dust, for more than a month, on the top of the waggon, always retained the vile scent, and could be made no possible use of. Had I a hundred tongues I should think them all insufficient to convey an adequate idea of the stench of this ill-scented beast. Whether it be urine which it discharges, or any other liquid, I am at a loss to determine. This is indubitable,—that if Theophrastus, Paracelsus, and any other chemist, had conspired together, in all their furnaces and shops, and with all their arts, they could never have composed a stink more intolerable than that which the skunk exhales by nature. Spirit of hartshorn, or any more powerful odour, if there be such, will be called aromatic scents, frankincense, balm of Gilead, and the most fragrant carnations and roses, by him that has once smelt the skunk. Europe may be congratulated upon her good fortune in being unacquainted with this cursed beast.THE BISCACHA.Let this fetid animal be succeeded by theridiculous biscacha, which closely resembles a hare, has a tail like that of a fox, and is marked with black and white spots. Its hair is exceedingly soft. In the plains, particularly in the more elevated situations, these animals dig themselves burrows so artfully, that no part of them is exposed to the rain. They are divided into separate apartments, as several families usually inhabit the same place. On the surface of the earth many doors are opened into the cave, at which crowds of them sit at sun-set, and carefully listen if any one be approaching; but if all is quiet they go out to pasture on moonlight nights, and make deplorable havoc in the neighbouring plains; for they are extremely fond of wheat and maize, and if either of these is to be had, will not feed on grass. At the doors of their burrows they heap up dry bones, bits of wood, and any other rubbish they can light upon, but for what purpose, no one hitherto has been able even to conjecture. The Spanish rustics sometimes amuse themselves with hunting these animals. They pour many pitchers of water into their subterranean dwellings, so that, to avoid drowning, the creatures leap out into the plain, and, no opportunity of escape being allowed them, are killed with stakes. Their flesh, unless they be very old, is not despised, even by the Spaniards.THE HARE.Hares, differing from those of Europe, in size alone, do exist in Paraguay; but I imagine there must be very few, because, though I have often traversed the whole province, and have lived chiefly amongst the Indians, who spare no kinds of animals, I never saw but one. In Tucuman, where it looks towards Peru, I understand that hares are not so scarce.VARIOUS KINDS OF RABBITS.As rabbits are extremely numerous in every part of this country, there is likewise great variety amongst them. Some, of various colours, like those of our country, live under ground. Others, which hide themselves under shrubs and bushes, are less than hares, larger than our rabbits, and of a bay, or rather a chesnut colour. Their flesh, which is extremely well tasted, may be seen at the tables even of the more wealthy. Several pairs of these rabbits are said to have been brought from Spain by some person who, in travelling through Paraguay into Peru, took rabbits of each sex out of their coop, and set them loose on the plain to feed, at which time some of them escaped and ran away. Their posterity is, at this day, extremely numerous in Tucuman, especially in the land ofSt. Iago. Other kinds of rabbits, scarce bigger than dormice, conceal themselves sometimes in the hedges of fields, sometimes in holes under ground, and, being innumerable, are extremely pernicious to wheat. The Abipones, who undertake most of their journeys without provisions, when they wish to dine or sup, set fire to the tall dry grass in the plain, in order to kill and roast the animals concealed underneath it, which leap out for fear of the fire. Were tigers, deer, stags, and emus, not to be had, there would never be a deficiency of rabbits, a hundred of which they easily take, and hang upon a string, after a chase of this kind. I was told by Barreda, the old General of the St. Iagans, that in hasty marches in search of the enemy, when there was no time for hunting, rabbits, dried in the air, served the Abipones for victuals.THE STAG.The shores of the Parana and Paraguay, and the larger islands of these rivers, abound in stags, which, in no respect, differ from those of Europe. Not one is to be seen in any other part of Paraguay. The Abipones pursue the stags on swift horses, and laying hold of their horns, kill them either with a knife or a spear; they also pierce them with thick arrows, whenhunting in a wood impervious to horses. Formerly, before the savages were acquainted with iron, they prefixed a stag's horn to their spears, instead of an iron point, and this weapon inflicted very deep wounds. Whilst I dwelt amongst them, some of the elder Abipones still used spears pointed with stags' horn, and were the more dreaded on that account. Stags' skins, which are used for various purposes, the Spaniards soften and polish with the melted fat of mares. They also entertain an idea that the smallest piece of stag's skin, worn close to the body, is a powerful preservative against the bites of serpents, as it is well known that stags and deer have frequent conflicts with these animals.ROEBUCKS.On entering the plain, wherever you turn your eyes you will see nothing but roebucks, exactly like European ones. Those which inhabit the plains are of a chesnut colour, but brighter; those which live in the woods, of a darker chesnut, but both are marked with white spots. When young they are easily tamed at home. I once nourished a little fawn, only a few days old, brought me by an Indian, on cow's milk, and reared it in my own apartment. When grown older, it went daily into the plainto pasture along with the cows, which are milked in the court-yard, but returned to my room of its own accord. When he found it shut he signified his arrival by knocking against the door with his feet, often in the middle of the night. He followed me, whether walking or riding, like a dog. He beheld a crowd of dogs running after him without alarm, and often put them to flight by stamping on the ground with his feet. By tinkling a collar of bells which I placed round his neck, he frightened all the dogs, and deceived them into thinking him some strange and formidable animal. He fed upon meat, bread, roots, and grass, but a sheet of paper was quite a treat to him, and sweeter than honey to his taste. The collar, which many months before I had fitted to his neck, beginning to squeeze him as he grew older, I endeavoured to loosen it; when the little animal, imagining that I did it with the intent of causing his death, and believing me to be his enemy, took to flight, and wandered up and down the more distant plains, without revisiting me for a month. He was often seen by the Indians. At length I directed my attention towards recalling and reconciling him. Allured by a sheet of paper, which I showed him from a distance, he approached me, though with a trembling foot, and being presented at intervals with freshsheets of paper, followed me to the house, unmindful of his terror and offence, and ever after remained, as long as he lived, with the utmost fidelity in my house. He would often fight with mules for half an hour together, affording a spectacle worthy to be seen and applauded by the assembled Indians; for resting on his fore-feet, he kicked the head of the mule every now and then with his hinder ones, and whilst his antagonist with bites and kicks endeavoured to render like for like, the fawn, by leaping backwards and forwards with incredible celerity, eluded the threats and anger of the enraged beast. After obtaining so many victories, to the astonishment and applause of the whole town, engaging in the plain with an untamed mule, his back was broken by the kicks of his adversary, which occasioned his death, at two years of age, when, being a male, he had very large horns. You will scarce believe how we grieved for his death. I still have in my possession a music-book bound with his skin.THE YKIPARÀ.The ykiparà, a species of mole lurking in holes under ground, makes a horrid noise, like the sound of a great drum beat at a distance, which is scarce heard without alarm by strangers. I cannot describe the appearance of thislittle animal, never having seen, though frequently heard it. I imagine that its voice must sound the louder from being re-echoed by the hollow corners and windings of the earth.DIFFERENT KINDS OF APES.Were I individually to describe the names, forms, and properties of all the apes which inhabit the North of Paraguay, this subject alone would fill a volume. Those called caraya are the most numerous and the ugliest species. Their hair is tawny, they are full of melancholy, always querulous, always morose, always snappish. As they howl incessantly day and night no one chooses to take them home and tame them. They sit by crowds on trees, and wander about in search of food. When they howl with most pertinacity it is a sign of rain or storms; the sound they utter resembles the creaking of waggons with ungreased wheels, and as hundreds howl in concert, may be heard many leagues off. They are of a middle size.THE CÀYÍ.The little apes called càyí are scarce a span long, when full grown; they are merry, playful, and, if tamed young, extremely docile. But they can seldom be allowed to walk up and down the house at large, for, wanting to touchand taste every thing, they throw down ink-stands and other vessels, spill liquors, tear books, and break every thing made of glass. They put their fingers into boxes, lamps, and jugs, smell them, and dirt the table and people's clothes. They steal every thing fit to eat that they can lay hands on. They are, therefore, tied with a long slender cord in such a manner that they may be able to go up and down. We had a little ape of this kind in the town of St. Joachim, which readily unclasped the men's spurs when they returned from riding. I have seen others take a journey seated on the back of a dog, and by mimicking the actions of men, like buffoons, excite both anger and ridicule. It is, therefore, no wonder that apes of this kind should be prized both by Indians and Europeans, and bought at a high price. Potatoes are their daily fare, but they also feed sometimes on flesh, bread, or any thing made of flour. Great care must be taken not to give them too large a portion, otherwise they will eat till they burst. In the woods, when quite young, they are carried about on the backs of their mothers, round whose necks they put their arms, like infants, and in this manner are borne along the boughs of trees, wherever there is any chance of finding food. An Indian, therefore, who wants a live ape, kills the mother with anarrow, and the little one never suffers itself to be torn from her without howling. I will tell you something still more surprizing, and which seems almost incredible. The Guaranies sometimes remain in the woods four days together, employed in hunting wild beasts. Having killed a number of apes, they consume part of them on the journey, and roasting the rest to prevent their growing putrid from the heat of the sun, carry them to the town to be eaten at home. The little apes, which are kept alive for diversion, know their mothers when roasted and blacker than a coal, and adhere so tenaciously to their shoulders, that their running away is not the least to be apprehended. Who does not admire the filial affection of these animals, which, though imitators of mankind in other respects, may certainly be their instructors in this?BARBUDOS.The Spanish Paraguayrians employed in collecting the herb of Paraguay in the thick northern woods, often see very large and melancholy apes, with extremely long beards, on account of which circumstance they have given them a ridiculous name which I prudently forbear to mention. They love dark recesses, flying mankind and the light, but are universally dreaded, on account of the arms they make useof: for at every passer-by they throw some of their stinking dung, which is always ready. But in comparison to that of the skunk, this stink may be accounted rose and saffron. No one has hitherto ever thought of catching and taming them.THE CARUGUÀ.In the more secret recesses of the woods wander apes, which the Guaranies call caruguà, and the Spaniardsdiablos del monte, devils of the woods. They are hairy, and taller than other apes; in walking they generally stand on their hind-feet. Their footsteps are like those of a boy of fourteen years old. They love solitude, and do not lie in wait for man, but if they spy one near them in the narrow parts of the forests, they tear him to pieces with the utmost ferocity. I knew of a Guarany belonging to the new colony of St. Stanislaus, who died of a dreadful wound he received from a caruguà. An Indian belonging to the same colony killed one of these apes in a distant wood. Fearing that the trouble of a long journey, under a burning sun, would prove insufferable, he left the carcass of the beast, but cut off his horrid nails, more formidable than any dagger, and showed them to Father Pietro Paulo Danesi, a Roman, to whom the care of the town was atthat time entrusted; they were carried about the other Guarany towns, that all who beheld might thereby judge of the beast to whom they belonged, and learn to know and dread the terrific arms of the caruguà, whenever they had to traverse rugged forests. I was once very near becoming the prey of one of these ferocious beasts. Passing the night in the woods of Mbaeverà, whilst the Indians and my companion Paschali Vilalba were sound asleep, I heard the noise of boughs breaking, together with a little singing sound resembling a human voice. As the voice and the noise approached nearer to me, and I was at a great distance from the fire of the Indians, I cried out and inquired of my comrades, who were at length awakened by my clamour, what bird or beast uttered those sounds? After listening awhile, they all exclaimed that the caruguà, the devil of the woods, was approaching. A number of them ran to encounter him, armed with spears and firebrands. The beast, alarmed at their approach, hastened back; and thus delivered from peril, I breathed once again.THE QUATÌ.The quatì appears to be of a mongrel breed, for its snout is like that of a barrow-pig, its head like that of a fox, while the rest of itsbody resembles a middle-sized ape, with a yellow skin, and a tail longer than all the rest of its body, divided into little rings of various colours. Like apes, these animals leap up and down the boughs of trees, on the fruit of which they subsist, though you sometimes meet a numerous herd of them jumping about upon the ground. Even when full grown, they are completely tamed by the Indians, within a few days, but are always destructive to hens, and their eggs, which they delight in.THE AỲ.The last of the different tribes of apes is an animal which, from the slothfulness of its nature, and the slowness of its motions, is called by the Guaranies, aỳ, and by the Spaniards,la pereza, the sloth. It is about the size of a fox, and has a small head, a narrow face, smooth nose, little black eyes, and long hair, of the colour of ashes, which spreads over its neck like a mane. It has a dusky streak in the middle of its back, long nails, bent backwards on each foot, a wide mouth, a thick tail, weak teeth, no ears; its appearance, in short, is ridiculous and disagreeable in every point of view. It lives upon the tops of trees, and feeds upon their leaves, and sometimes upon the smaller kinds of ants. It never gets up upon its feet,nor is it ever seen to drink, perhaps content with dew. Slower than any tortoise, it so dreads the slightest motion, that it spends a whole day in creeping up or down a tree. It detests the least drop of rain. Every now and then it pronounces the letter I, like a person groaning. It has a remarkably firm skin; but its flesh is nauseated even by the Indians. From what I have said, you may perceive that this most slothful animal is extremely dissimilar to apes, which spend the whole day in running, leaping, and playing, as if impatient of the shortest respite. The Indians, in travelling, take great delight in the flesh of apes, which, in various countries of America, is the chief and most esteemed food of the Indians. Moreover, many of the Americans have believed apes to possess the power of speech, and to feign themselves dumb, that they may not be obliged to labour by the Spaniards. Whenever an ape is wounded by a bullet, he puts his hand to the wound, as if to prevent his life from being shed with his blood; and when the body is quite lifeless, stiff, and cold, the hand remains in the same situation. I have found, from experience, that their teeth are hurtful and dangerous; for my companion, after being bitten by a mad she ape, was seized with an erysipelas, which spread from the arm to the head, induced a great heat and swelling,and caused terrible, and almost mortal agonies. In European towns I have seen many apes which are not found in any part of Paraguay; for in various countries there is a great variety of apes; their names are also various on account of the diversity of tongues.THE ARMADILLO,ORTATÙ.This little animal, which is scarce larger than a common tortoise, is called by the Spaniards armadillo. Its whole body is armed with horny scales, elegantly varied with red and white. Its head, which resembles that of a young pig, it discovers in walking, but on the approach of danger entirely conceals under this coat of mail. It has rather a long neck. Its scales are clothed here and there with white hairs, especially under the belly. The feet are like those of a tortoise, with five unequal fingers, armed with very sharp nails with which it digs holes under ground to hide itself in, or clings so firmly to the surface of the earth that the strongest man can hardly make it loosen its hold. It has a long scaly tail, of which, prefixed to a reed, the Abipones make military trumpets. Its little ears are destitute both of hairs and scales. It is furnished with two joints near the neck, so that it can bend its throat here and there. It runs very fast, and makes many doubles toescape the pursuit of dogs and men. It feeds upon herbs and roots, drinks plentifully and grows very fat. Dogs discover its subterranean retreats by the scent. This animal does not lay eggs, like a tortoise, but brings forth a numerous living progeny. Paraguay produces three species of armadillos, all different in form, size and name. To the first kind belong armadillos full two spans long, and larger than a barrow-pig, with very long nails, and some with yellow, others with red hairs. The scales of the red ones, half burnt and pulverized, are very efficacious in healing horses' backs, which are either ulcerated, or stripped of their hair. These larger armadillos, on account of their feeding on the carcasses of mules and horses, are loathed by most people; but their great shells, or coats of mail, are used by the lower order of Spaniards for dishes and plates. Armadillos of the second species, which are much smaller than the others, abstain from carcasses, and yield flesh and fat of a very pleasant savour. The smallest of the three kinds roll themselves up at will, like a hedge-hog. Such is the strength of their globose coat of mail, that no force is sufficient to make it expand, except you pour water with violence upon it; for when wetted they open themselves voluntarily. Their flesh is very white, full of excellent gravy, and even by an Europeanwould be esteemed superior to capon, pheasant, or chicken. Their fat is also used for medicinal purposes. The plains of Paraguay swarm with these mailed animals.So far concerning the wild quadrupeds indigenous to Paraguay. Let us now proceed to amphibious animals.THE CROCODILE,ORCAYMAN.At the head of the amphibious animals stands the crocodile, which exceeds all the rest in the slowness of its motions, and the size of its body. The young creature, when it breaks its shell, resembles a small lizard, such as is commonly seen in European gardens, scarce more than half a span in length. In the course of years it grows by degrees to an enormous size. Crocodiles ten feet long are very common in Paraguay. When a two years' drought had exhausted many of the lakes and rivers in Paraguay, among other aquatic beasts we found numbers of crocodiles roaming about the plain, which died of thirst from being unable to get a sufficiency of water. I am of opinion that most crocodiles reach to extreme old age from the advantage of a singular nature, by which they are so effectually fortified, that it is exceedingly difficult to kill them. I will give you a description of this animal. It has a large, flat head, a very wide mouth, armedon each side with extremely sharp, but unequal teeth, and large, round grey eyes, with a black pupil. It has no tongue, but the place of one is supplied by a little immoveable membrane. Its feet, which are furnished like birds' claws with four fingers, and nails, it uses, sometimes in walking slowly on the shore, sometimes in swimming. Its body, which resembles a huge trunk, terminates in a long tail, like the point of a weapon, at the extremity of which lies a small black ball, closed on every side, the distinguishing mark of the female sex, for the males are not furnished with this ball. Its rough skin, covered with very hard scales, which are elegantly variegated with black and white, like shells, forms a mail which renders its head, back and tail impenetrable to all weapons. Softer scales adorn rather than arm its belly, sides and feet, where circular or square figures, distinguished at intervals by a colour partly yellow, partly dusky, project, like shells, from the surface of the skin. The tail is composed of blackish rings, and a little denticulated fin which it moves in swimming. The skin of the neck is softer, and very easily wounded. Crocodiles on being attacked by tigers, kill them by a stroke of their tail. They are themselves killed if their neck or belly, both which are covered with softer skin, is wounded by thehorns or claws of beasts, by a bullet, a spear, or an arrow; on these occasions they take to swimming, but the Indians generally swim after them, and bring them back to shore. During a pretty violent south wind crocodiles are rendered torpid by the cold at night, from being immersed in pools; but when the sun is risen, they lie, like logs of wood, on the sunny shore to warm themselves, and their limbs being stiffened, and their senses almost gone, are pierced with spears by the Abipones, without danger or trouble. Leaving their bodies, they carry away nothing but the teeth, and the little bones of the spine, which, being as hard as iron, as sharp as awls, and at the same time elastic, are used by them for the purpose of pricking their limbs, at drinking parties. Crocodiles' teeth, which are thought by the Indians extremely efficacious in curing or preventing the bites of serpents, they wear themselves, or sell to the Spaniards. The flesh of crocodiles is tender, and so white that it can hardly be distinguished from that of sturgeon. Many American nations, especially those which inhabit the islands of the Orinoco, and others, are said to feed on it. But in Paraguay, excepting the Payaguas, who live near rivers, scarce any other nation eats them, because that country abounds in cattle, and wild animals, as well as in vegetables and fruits.But I think that no European would dislike the flesh of the crocodile, unless it were on account of the musk which it has both in its jaws and testicles. Provident priests hang up a small particle of the glans, to which that musk adheres, wrapped in a piece of gold, or silk stuff, in the sacred coffer of the great altar, where the Eucharist is kept, in order to keep off worms, which, in so moist and hot a climate, are otherwise bred in the sacred wafer.When you hear it said that crocodiles abound in venom, pray account it an old wife's fable; for it is very certain that they are eaten by the Indians, and would be eagerly sought by all Europeans also, were it not for their musk. Crocodiles' teeth grow very deep in the head, are hollow at the root, but where they terminate in a point, extremely solid, and capable of tearing the hardest substance. It is a terrible circumstance that whatever this beast gets within its teeth it never lets loose of. In the new kingdom of Granada, if a crocodile catches hold of the arm of a swimming Indian with his jaws, those who come to his assistance immediately cut it off, to preserve the rest of the body, as the man would otherwise lose his life. I will now describe to you their manner of breeding. The females, almost every day, lay about thirty eggs, cylinder-shaped, and as large asthose of ducks; these eggs are buried under the sand, and when heated by the sun, bring forth creatures like our lizards. As crocodiles have short feet, and sweep the ground with their vast bellies, they crush a number of eggs whenever they move: for if Providence had not ordered it thus, there would be no room left either for beasts or fishes in America. Crocodiles' eggs are in high esteem amongst the Indians. In the town of Concepcion two crocodiles, a male and a female, newly hatched, were brought by an Abipon to my companion, at whose request I undertook the care of rearing them. To prevent them from escaping, I shut them both up in a very wide and deep wooden mortar, frequently poured fresh water on them, and threw in mud, little fishes, and very small pieces of meat for them to feed upon. This was their habitation, this their food, during seven months. I sometimes took them out of the water, and allowed them to walk up and down the court-yard of the house. The Abipones were delighted to see the little creatures playing on the grass, or striving together with gaping mouths and erected bodies. I had a young dog, which, as was natural to his age, was extremely playful. He imprudently rushed barking upon the crocodiles, when one of them laid hold of his nostrils with its very sharpteeth. Unable by any means to get rid of this disagreeable appendage, he at length came to me and implored my assistance, when by the hands of the by-standing Abipones, who were laughing heartily at the adventure, the pertinacious crocodile was torn from his nose. It was evident that these beasts were extremely quick of hearing, for they heard the slightest noises, such as would escape human ears—perceived thunder from a cloud at a great distance below the horizon, and acquainted me with the circumstance by repeatedly murmuring ù ù ù ù. At seven months of age, when scarce a span long, they were killed by the cold, in a journey of one and twenty days, taken with the Spanish soldiers, to change the situation of the colony. A sharp frost, for it was the winter season, killed these pupils of mine. Had they enjoyed their natural liberty and food, I have no doubt they would have grown more in so many months.Much has been written concerning the ferocity of crocodiles towards mankind. I contradict no one. But it would be wronging the Paraguayrian crocodiles to complain of them, for during the two and twenty years of my residence in that country, I never heard of a single creature's being killed or hurt by a crocodile. Almost all the Abipones, men, women,boys and girls, daily cooled themselves during the heat of the sun, by bathing in rivers, pools, streams and lakes, all which are frequented by crocodiles; yet no one ever received any injury from these animals, no one suspecting the danger of such a thing. They are generally scared away by the noise which the Indians make in swimming, especially the black ones; for the red are considered more bold and more dangerous by the Abipones. But I myself have found that crocodiles of any colour, whether in the water or on dry land, are perfectly harmless. Crossing rivers in a bull's hide, or low boat, I have often seen crocodiles swimming past, with erected heads, sparkling eyes, and gaping mouths; but knowing them to be harmless, I beheld them with the utmost unconcern. In the town of the Rosary, scarce a gun-shot from my house, there was a pool swarming with crocodiles. The town of St. Joachim was surrounded with lakes. About sun-set we often went out to breathe the fresh air, and in our walk always met with crocodiles of every age and species, but never received any injury from them, though unarmed, and perhaps on that account more safe: for it is my opinion that crocodiles have been injurious chiefly to those by whom they have been themselves injured. They spare those that spare them. I do not in the leastwonder that in the territories of Quito, and Nuevo Reyno, and in certain parts of Asia and Africa, crocodiles have shown the utmost fury towards men, when they are daily tormented, taken, and slain, by the inhabitants, who feed regularly upon their flesh.Different nations make use of different artifices in hunting and killing crocodiles. Some go upon the river in boats, and throw into the water a piece of wood, to which flesh or fish is fastened with a long rope. The crocodiles swallow the wood along with the flesh, but as it is crossed in their jaws, are unable to throw it up, and being dragged to the bank by means of the rope, are presently killed. Others take a long, sharp, pointed piece of timber, and when the crocodile approaches thrust it deep into the animal's jaws, by which means it is killed without danger. The Abipones generally pierce those crocodiles with a spear which they find lying basking in the sun quite stiffened with cold. An arrow, though extremely strong, unless it touch the neck of the crocodile, where the skin is softer, always proves a weak and precarious instrument of death. The same may be said of bullets. Though crocodiles are perfectly harmless to mankind in Paraguay, they are in like proportion destructive to fishes, which are either consumed or put to flight bythem. They are useful in medicine. Wounds inflicted by a crocodile are happily cured by being smeared with the fat of the same animal. One of their intestines, when dried and reduced to powder, is a remedy for the pain of the stone. Little stones, like common flint, found in the stomach of the crocodile, are said to be very efficacious in curing quartan agues, and stone in the kidneys, if reduced to powder and drunk. I have observed elsewhere that envenomed wounds of snakes are both healed and prevented by crocodiles' teeth, and shall tell you many things relative to the use of this remedy, in their proper place.If I have been too prolix in my remarks on this prince of amphibious animals, the reader will excuse it, for I shall aim at brevity in treating of more ignoble creatures.THE AGUARÀ,ORWATER-DOG.In lakes and rivers dwells the water-dog, called by the Guaranies aguarà, and I have often seen it in plains near the shore. Though larger than a mastiff it is afraid of every thing, takes to flight on espying a man at a distance, and is an object of fear to no one. Its ears resemble those of an ass, its head that of a dog. It has plenty of strong and sharp teeth. By night it roars very loud, and lies in waitfor lesser animals. The Abipones hunt it for the sake of its skin alone, which is shaggy, of a dark yellow colour, and marked along the back with a black line like an ass. Its hair is extremely soft and much valued by the Spaniards on account of its efficacy in assuaging sciatica, gout, and pains in the bowels. Some lay it upon saddles, finding its warmth extremely salutary. On returning from Paraguay I brought some of it home, but it was stolen from me, a loss which I regret to this day.THE YGUARÒ,ORWATER-TIGER.This beast, which is larger than a mastiff, is generally concealed under deep water. It is shaggy, with a long tail, ending in a point, and is armed with very strong nails. It lays hold of horses and mules, as they are swimming across rivers, and drags them to the bottom. Shortly after, the bowels of the animal, which it has torn to pieces, are seen floating on the surface of the water. The yguarò generally dwells in deep gulphs of rivers, but digs large caverns in the higher banks, where it can hide both itself and its offspring. On the high shores of the Paraguay, we often heard a tremendous noise in our nightly navigation, and the sailors and soldiers informed me that it proceeded from those caves, which were hollowedby the continual dashing of the water, and had at length begun to gape.THE AÒ.This dreadful beast, which has a head and claws like those of a tiger, which resembles a mastiff in size, has no tail, and possesses singular ferocity, and equal swiftness, is called by the Guaranies aò, a word signifying clothing, but given to this beast because, from its wool, the Guaranies formerly wove themselves garments. They wander gregariously in pools, marshy places, or woods far from the noise of men. But if one of them chance to meet an Indian hunting, his life is as good as gone, unless he can avoid its cruel fangs, by a very swift flight, or by ascending a tree; though when seated on the very highest boughs he cannot be perfectly secure, for as these ferocious animals are incapable of climbing a tree, they will tear it up by the roots with their claws, and when it falls seize hold of their prey. These things the Indians and Spaniards all agree in relating and believing. For my part, after so many journeys on foot, and on horseback, after traversing so many of the woods, plains and marshes of Paraguay, I never saw even the shadow of such a beast. From which I infer that they cannot be very numerous, nor commonto the whole province. Would that they were banished from every part of Paraguay! That ferocious animal which writers callfamacosio, most of us think to differ from the aò in name only.THE CAPIIGUÁRA,ORWATER-PIG.The water-pig inhabits the larger rivers and streams, but not the very largest, although, as it feeds upon grass, it comes out to pasture in the neighbouring plains, not without committing great depredations in the fields. When full grown it resembles a pig of two years old in size, and almost in appearance, except in its vast round head, and the whiskers on its upper lip, which are similar to those of a cat. It has short ears, large, black eyes, a very wide mouth, but rather narrow lips, dusky and very short hair, and no tail. Besides two long, curved tusks, which project from its mouth, it is armed with forty-eight teeth, plain at the top, but hollow beneath. Its feet are like those of a pig; the front ones have four nails, the hind only three. These beasts swim or walk in company, and cross rivers with surprizing expedition. By night they bray like asses, and sometimes alarm travellers unacquainted with America. Their flesh is very like pork, but as it has a fishy taste, is eaten by none but theIndians; though when young they are reckoned a dainty by Europeans even. Capiiguáras may be wounded without difficulty, either with a spear, an arrow, or a ball, but it requires great good fortune to catch them; for on receiving a wound, as they are excellent swimmers and divers, they immediately hide themselves under water, and extract the arrow or spear which is sticking in their flesh. The Abipones, who frequently employ themselves in hunting these animals, after wounding a pig, swim after it and overtake it in the water. The skin of the capiiguára is very thick, and were it properly dressed, would be useful in various ways.THE OTTER.Otters swarm in the lakes and rivers of Paraguay. If I mistake not, they differ from those of Europe in no other respect than in being somewhat smaller. They are most numerous in the Abiponian territories, and those adjacent to the cities of Sta. Fè, Cordoba, and Corrientes. In the distant hordes of the Mocobios and Abipones, towards the north, there are no otters, or very few at least. The savages make use of them in various ways. They feed upon their flesh, and make cloaks of their skins.When the lakes and rivers are almost exhausted by a long drought, the Abipones goout to hunt otters. If the water is shallow enough to ford, hounds are sent forwards, and many hundreds killed with stakes in one day, though they are extremely apt to bite, and have very sharp teeth, on which account, in killing them, both the Indians and their dogs often receive wounds which are not cured in a few days.

THE TIGER.

Paraguay abounds in tigers from the number of its cattle, which are the food of these beasts. They are all marked with black spots, but the skin of some is white, that of others yellow. As the African lions far exceed those of Paraguay in size and ferocity, the African tigers yield in like proportion to the Paraguayrians in the size of their bodies. In the estate of St. Ignatius, which belongs to the Cordoban college, we found the skin of a tiger, that had been killed the day before, fastened to the ground with wooden pegs: it measured three ells and two inches in length, which is no smaller than the dimensions of the hide of a full grown ox. But the largest tiger is much slenderer than any ox.

Tigers, whether springing out like cats or in the act of flight, run extremely quick, but not for a long time together; for as they soon tire, an active horseman may overtake and kill them. In the woods they defend themselves amongst the trees and rocky places, and pertinaciously repulse assailants. It is incredible what slaughters they daily commit in the estates. Oxen, sheep, horses, mules, asses, they kill without difficulty, but never eat till putrid. They devour stinking flesh in preference to sweet, as the following facts will clearly prove. Should a Spaniard, an Indian, and a Negro sleep togethernear the same fire and in the same place, the tiger will reject the Spaniard and Indian without hesitation, and rush to devour the Negro; for Negroes' flesh they reckon a dainty, because it is most stinking. Tigers will devour, to the last morsel, horses' carcasses streaming with liquid putrefaction, though living horses be at hand. Both Spaniards and Indians conspire against these destructive beasts. They construct a very large chest, like a mousetrap, composed of immense pieces of wood, and supported upon four wheels, and drag it with four oxen into that place where they have discovered traces of tigers. In the farthest corner of the chest, a very stinking piece of flesh is placed, by way of bait, which is no sooner laid hold of by the tiger, than the door of the chest falls and shuts him in, and he is killed by a musket or a spear put through the interstices of the planks. In the town of the Rosary we spied a tiger not yet full grown, but menacing and formidable to all he met, in a wood, a gun's shot distant from my house. Myself and three armed Spaniards flew to kill him; on seeing us, by flying here and there amongst the trees and brambles, he contrived to get out of sight. Following his footsteps we found him lurking in an aged, very large, and almost hollow tree, which, to deprive the tiger of all egress or means of escape, we strewed about with pieces of wood, makinga hole in the side of it, that the lurking beast might be put to death with arms, which I at last effected without the least danger to myself. You cannot conceive how the tiger leapt up and down in the hollow of the tree after receiving a few wounds. The skin, which was pierced with shot and the sword till it was like a sieve, could be made no use of, though the flesh afforded the Abipones a sumptuous supper. But as tigers are possessed of singular strength, swiftness, and cunning, it is scarcely safe for one person to pursue them in the open plain. I do not deny that a tiger may be sometimes pierced or strangled, by a Spaniard or Indian alone. But a Spaniard or Indian is often torn to pieces by a tiger from the spear's thrust missing, or failing to inflict a mortal blow; for unless the interior of the head, the heart, or the spine of the back be wounded, this powerful beast does not fall, but gets infuriated, and attacks the aggressor with rage proportioned to the pain of the wound.

On this account, whenever any of those beasts are to be destroyed, many men armed with spears unite together; the use of the musket alone is almost always dangerous; for unless the tiger is knocked down by the first ball, he leaps furiously to the place whence the fire proceeded, and tears the man that inflicted thewound. He, therefore, that does not choose to run the risk of his life, goes accompanied on each side by two spearmen, who pierce the tiger as it advances to attack him, after he has fired his musket. Taught by the danger of others, I found that bullets must not be rashly used against tigers. Travelling with six Mocobios, from the city of Santa Fè to the town of St. Xavier, I passed the night on the banks of the round lake, in the open air, as usual; the earth was our bed, the sky our covering. The fire, our nightly defence against tigers, shone for a while in the midst of us as we slept, but at length grew very low. In the middle of the night a tiger crept towards us. My Indian companions, that they might not appear distrustful of the friendship of the Spaniards, had begun the journey unarmed. Anticipating no danger, I had neglected to load my musket. At my direction, firebrands were dexterously hurled at the approaching tiger. At each throw he leapt back roaring, but resumed courage, and returned again and again, more threatening than before. Meantime I loaded my musket. But as the darkness deprived me of all hope of killing the tiger, and left me only the desire to escape, I loaded my musket with plenty of shot, and fired it off without a ball. The beast, alarmed at the horrid thundering, instantly fled, and we lay down to sleepagain, rejoicing in our success. Next day, at noon, in a narrow path, bounded on one side by a lake, and on the other by a wood, we met two tigers, which would have been caught with a noose by the pursuing Mocobios, had they not fled and hidden themselves in the wood.

Innumerable tigers are yearly caught with leathern thongs by the Spaniards and Indians, on horseback, and are strangled, after being swiftly dragged for some time along the ground. The Pampas wound the tiger's back with a slender arrow, and kill him instantly. At other times, for the same purpose, they use very strong arrows, or three round stones suspended from thongs, which they hurl at the tiger. How great their strength must be you may judge from this, that if they meet two horses in the pastures tied together with a thong to prevent their escaping, they will attack and slay the one, and drag him, along with the other live one, to their den. I should not have believed this, had I not myself witnessed it, when travelling in company with the soldiers of St. Iago. Their cunning is equal to their strength. If the wood and the plain deny them food, they will procure it by fishing in the water. As they are excellent swimmers, they plunge up to their neck in some lake or river, and spout from their mouths the white froth, which, swimming on the surface of thewater, the hungry fishes eagerly devour as food, and are quickly tossed on to the shore by the claws of the tigers. They also catch tortoises, and tear them from their shells by wondrous artifice, in order to devour them. Sometimes a tiger, lurking unseen under the high grass or in a bramble bush, quietly watches a troop of horse passing by, and rushes with impetuosity on the horseman that closes the company. On rainy and stormy nights they creep into human habitations, not in search of prey or food, but to shelter themselves from the rain and from the cold wind.

Though the very shadow of this beast is enough to create alarm, yet those are most to be dreaded which have already tasted human flesh. Tigers of this description have an intense craving after men, and continually lie in wait for them. They will follow a man's footstep for many leagues till they come up with the traveller.

It will be proper in this place to give account of some methods of defence against tigers. If you climb a tree to avoid falling into the clutches of a tiger, he will ascend it also. In this case urine must be your instrument of defence. If you cast this into the eyes of the tiger, when he is threatening you at the foot of the tree, you are safe—the beast will immediately take to flight. In the night a blazing fireaffords great security against tigers. Dogs also are dreaded by them, though these they sometimes cruelly flay and tear to pieces. The Spaniards have mastiffs which are very formidable to tigers. In the town of St. Ferdinand a tiger often stole by night into the sheepfolds, killed the sheep, sucked their blood, and leaving their bodies, carried away their heads. This audacity at length appearing to us no longer endurable, at sun-set twenty Abipones armed themselves with spears to kill the mischievous beast, and placed themselves in ambush. Another, armed with pistols, lay down in the midst of the flock. Though the men were silently concealed in the court-yard close by, yet the tiger, aware of the circumstance, either from the smell or hearing, durst not approach the sheepfold. At length, despairing of his arrival, the watchers, about night-fall, returned to their huts. Scarcely had they turned their backs, when the tiger returned and tore to pieces ten sheep. To search him out, all the Abipones that were at home set off on foot, armed on both sides with spears, ready to strike whenever the beast appeared. At the request of the Indians, I closed the company, armed with a gun and bayonet and some pistols. After diligently exploring the vicinity, as no tiger appeared, we returned home withouteffecting our business, and saluted by the hisses of the women. But the very same tiger at sun-set daily approached the town, to tear away part of the carcass of a dead horse, without ever being caught by the Indians who lay in wait for him. The Abipones have continual contests with tigers, and unless the spear misses, are uniformly victorious. Hence an Abipon is very rarely devoured by a tiger, but innumerable tigers are devoured by the Abipones. Their flesh, though horridly ill-savoured even when quite fresh, is eagerly craved after by the equestrian savages, who also drink melted tiger's fat, esteeming it nectar, and even believing it a means of producing valour. They all detest the thought of eating hens, eggs, sheep, fish, and tortoises, imagining that those tender kinds of food engender sloth and languor in their bodies, and cowardice in their minds. On the other hand, they eagerly devour the flesh of the tiger, bull, stag, boar, anta, and tamandua, having an idea that, from continually feeding on these animals, their strength, boldness, and courage are increased. In repeated battles with tigers many persons are wounded by their claws. The scars, after the wounds are healed, occasion excessive pain and burning, which no time nor medicine can ever relieve. The tigers themselves are tormented with the heat of their ownclaws, and in order to relieve the pain, they rub them against the treeseibo, and leave the mark of their nails in the bark.

The tiger spares no living creature; all it attacks, but with various fortune and success: for horses and mules, unless they save their lives by speedy flight, are generally overcome; asses, when they can gain a place where they may defend their backs, repel the assailant, by going round and round, and kicking very quickly for a long time; but in the open plain they seldom obtain a victory. Cows, trusting to their horns, defend themselves and their calves with the utmost intrepidity. Mares, on the contrary, at the approach of a tiger, desert their foals and take to flight. Antas lie down on their backs, await the advancing foe with expanded arms, and immediately on his assault squeeze him to death, if we may credit the testimony of the natives. Tigers' skins are used by the Abipones for breastplates, for horsecloths, for carpets, and for wrappers. In Spain, every skin is sold for four, and sometimes six German florens. In the hope of gain, a number of Spaniards join together in Paraguay, and go out to hunt tigers. A vast quantity of tigers' skins are yearly sent to Spain. In the city of Sta. Fè, I knew a Spaniard at first indigent, who, from this trade in skins,within a few years excited the envy of others by his opulence.

To the tiger kind belong two other wild beasts, but smaller, and not so ferocious. One of them is called by the Spaniardsonza, the other by the Guaraniesmbaracaya. These, though seldom offensive to other animals, often depopulate a whole henroost by night, but are seldom seen by day.

The Paraguayrian lions seem unworthy of so great a name; for they are quite unlike those of Africa in form, size, and disposition. They never attempt any thing against horses, oxen, and men, and are dreaded only by calves, foals, and sheep. The Paraguayrian lions suit well with the old Spanish saying,No es tan bravo el leon, como se pinta, the lion is not so fierce as his picture. You can scarce distinguish their flesh from veal, so that the Spaniards and Indians devour it with avidity. Their skin is tawny and spotted with white. Their head is large and round, their eyes sparkling, and nose flat. Their whiskers are composed of long hard hairs, like bristles, for I have handled them myself; but hear on what occasion. The guards of the estates, both Spaniards and Indians, had a custom of preserving the heads of the lions andtigers which they slew, fastened with stakes to the folds of the cattle, as testimonies of their vigilance and courage, in the same manner as the heads and hands of criminals are seen fixed to a pole in the place appointed for their punishment. In a certain estate I got up upon the hedges, examined the heads of the lions and tigers, of which there was an immense number, observed their eyes, ears, and teeth, and tore some hair out of the whiskers of the tigers, which resembled wire, were thick at the root, and endued with a kind of elastic property. I cannot understand why the Abipones do not rear the whelps of lions, as they reckon tigers' whelps a dainty, though they are never procured without danger. Before they are full grown they give proofs of their native ferocity, and with their little tender claws and teeth fly upon all they meet, especially in the heat of the sun. One man deprived a tiger's whelp of its teeth and claws, to prevent it from doing any mischief, but though destitute of its arms, it used to rush upon children and calves, and would certainly have crushed and strangled them, had they not been instantly rescued. That the danger might not increase as he grew up, he was forced to be shot.

In most of the woods you may see wild cats,differing from the domestic ones in our country in no other respect except that the extremity of the tail is flatter and more compressed, and that they are superior in size. They are also of various colours. The Indians eat them roasted, but being extremely swift and shy, they are not killed without difficulty. We had a young cat in the town of Conception, born of a tame mother and a wild father, than which I never saw a larger or handsomer, or one more ferocious and fugitive.

The more secluded woods towards the north are the haunts of this animal, which the Spaniards call the Anta, orLa gran bestia. In size it resembles a full grown ass: in shape, if you except its eyes, head, and feet, a pig. It has rather short ears, inclining towards the forehead, very sharp teeth and lips, like those of a calf, the upper part of which somewhat resembles a proboscis, and is thrust forward by the animal when he is angry. The fore feet are cloven into two hollow nails, the hind feet into three. A smooth unhairy appendage supplies the place of a tail. The skin is of a tawny colour and extremely thick, on which account it is dried in the air by the Spaniards and Abipones, and used for a breast-plate to ward off the blows of swords andarrows, but is penetrable to shot and to spears. This beast flies the sight of man, though possessed of such extraordinary strength as, when caught with a rope, to drag along with him in his flight both horse and rider. It generally sleeps in the day-time, and by night, wandering up and down the recesses of the woods, feeds upon herbs; it frequently betrays itself by the rustling noise it makes in breaking the branches of shrubs and trees as it walks about the woods. The Indians who inhabit the woods lay traps, made of stakes, to catch the antas, or concealing themselves in some thicket, imitate the sound of their voices, and pierce the beasts on their arrival with arrows; for their flesh, either fresh or hardened by the air, is continually eaten by the savages, though its toughness renders it rather unpalatable. In the stomach of the anta lies a pouch, which is often found to contain a number of bezoar stones, scarce bigger than a hazle-nut, not oblong nor oval, but polygonous, and of the colour of ashes or lead. These are thought by physicians superior to the bezoar stones supplied by other beasts, and more efficacious as medicine. Arapotiyu, the young Indian whom I brought from the woods of Mbaeverà, which the savages call the country of the antas, gave me a heap of these bezoar stones:—"Take, father," said he, "these most salutary little stones,which I have collected from the antas I have killed." On my inquiring what virtue they attributed to them, and how they were used in the woods, he replied—"Whenever we are seized with a malignant heat, we rub our limbs with these antas' stones, after warming them at the fire, and receive immediate relief." This use of the bezoar stone I submit to the judgment of physicians, for it must be confessed I never made trial of its virtues. The nails of antas are much esteemed by the Spaniards, as remedies for ill-health, and worn by them as amulets, to defend them from noxious airs: they are said to be sold in the druggists' shops in Europe, for various medicinal purposes, especially for persons afflicted with epilepsy, small-pox, and measles, as is related by Woytz in his Medico-physical Thesaurus, where he affirms that antas are often afflicted with epilepsy or the falling-sickness, and that, to relieve the pain, they rub the left ear with the nail of the fore foot. The truth of the fact must be looked to by those who have affirmed it, and have hazarded the assertion that the anta is called by the Germanselendthier, the miserable beast, because it is subject to epilepsy. But in reality it was called by the old Germanselck, by the Greeks αλκη, and by the Latinsalxoralce. As it appears from all writers, that elks are horned in thenorthern countries of Europe, and as I myself saw, that those in Paraguay have no horns, I began to doubt whether they were not a different animal altogether, and only bore the same name on account of some similitude.

I do not agree with those who call elksequi-cervi, mongrel creatures born of a stag and a mare. This cannot be imagined for a moment of the Paraguayrian antas, which inhabit the roughest and most rugged forests, not only unknown but almost inaccessible both to horses and stags. The antas choose plains full one hundred leagues distant, where they can never meet with either of those animals. However this may be, I advise giving credit to those who, in the present age, have written more fully on natural history from authority.

This animal, which the Spaniards call Guanáco, and the Abipones Hakahátak, as it has no name in Latin, may be called ελαφοκαμηλον, a cameleopard, as the ostrich is called a camel. For whilst it resembles a stag in other particulars, its head, neck, the bunch on its back, the fissure of the upper lip, and the tail a span long, are like those of a camel. Its feet are cloven, and its skin shaggy, and for the most part of a reddish colour. The hair of this beast serves tomake hats with. Its flesh is eaten both by Spaniards and Indians. Its swiftness stands it in the stead of arms. It never attempts to kick or bite, but when offended by any one, spits at him in a rage; this saliva is commonly said first to create a red pustule, and afterwards to bring on the mange. Like goats, these animals inhabit rocks and high mountains, but come down in flocks, at pleasure, for the sake of the pasture in the plains below the mountains; mean time one of the males occupies a high place, whence, like a watchman from a tower, he sees if any danger is near, and surveys every part of the neighbourhood. The whole flock hurries away upon any alarm, the females going before, and the males closing the company. This is seldom a panic terror, for the huanacos, whilst occupying the pastures in the plain, are often caught by the Spanish horsemen; but very swift horses are necessary for this business, as they run extremely quick. I have often seen flocks of these animals, when travelling in Tucuman, on the Cordoban mountains. Hearing the sound of approaching horses, they crowd to the highest summits of the rocks, whence, ranged like soldiers in a long file, they look down upon the horses as they pass underneath, neigh for some time in a manner strongly resembling human laughter, and presently,struck with sudden terror, for they are extremely timorous, scour off in all directions. This spectacle frequently amused and delighted us Europeans. Huanacos, though very wild and shy, may be easily tamed in the towns, when young. Besides the skin and flesh of the huanacos, the bezoar stone, which is often found in their insides, is of value. It sometimes weighs more than a pound, is always oval, scarce smaller than a hen's egg, and painted, like marble, with most exquisite colours. Most probably it derives this medicinal property from the animal's feeding upon wholesome herbs, which grow in the mountains: its virtues, however, are thought little of by the physicians of these times, who despise old prescriptions.

Peru, the neighbour of Paraguay, produces wild animals, in which the bezoar of various colours, forms, and sizes, is found: namely, the native sheep, which the Indians call Llamás, the Spaniards Carneros de la Tierra, and which are used, like beasts of burden, for carrying weights, not exceeding one hundred pounds.

This country likewise produces Vicuñas, animalsequal in size to a goat in our country, but not horned, and clothed with wool of a darkish yellow colour, softer than silk, and much esteemed by Europeans. A garment made of this wool cools the body when the sun is oppressively hot. It is said to cure pains in the kidneys, and to assuage the torture of the gout. The flesh of the vicuña, though unsavoury to the palate, is eaten by the Indians; it is also used as medicine. A man who had got a disorder in his eyes, from walking for a long time amidst snow in Peru, was presently relieved of the pain by a piece of vicuña's flesh, applied to the part affected, by an Indian woman.

Peru also boasts of pacos, macomoros, and tarùgas, which are almost of the same use and appearance as the former, and in like manner produce the bezoar stone.

The tamandua obtains its name from the ants upon which it feeds. But it does not eat every kind of ant, but only those which the Guaranies callcupis, and their eggs. When these are not to be had, it takes up with little worms, winged insects, honey, and meat cut into very small particles. In bulk it isequal to a very large pig, but superior in length and height. Its head does not correspond to the size of its body. A very small fissure, which is seen in its long snout, serves it for a mouth, under which is concealed a blackish, smooth tongue, slenderer than the goose's quill I am writing with, but twenty-five inches long. This he dips into a hill of ants, scraped together with his nails, and when covered with those insects, or their little eggs, draws back again into his mouth, and swallows them instantly. This animal has small black eyes, middle-sized, and almost round ears, and a blackish skin, interspersed here and there with white, and for the most part hairy. From the extremity of the fore-feet project four curved nails, of which the two middle are very strong, and three inches in length; they are quite necessary arms to the tamandua, for with them he digs up, and removes the turf under which the ants' nests lie. The hind feet have five fingers, furnished with as many nails, and in walking make the same footsteps as a boy. The tail, which is covered with stiff bristles, longer than the hairs in a horse's mane, is as long as his whole body, and so wide that, bent towards the neck, with the hairs expanded on each side like a fan, or fly-flap, it covers his whole body when he sleeps, and defends him not onlyagainst cold, but even against rain. This beast is not able to keep running for any length of time, and may be easily caught by a person on horseback, or even on foot. Its flesh is eaten by the Indians, but not reckoned a dainty. When young it is very soon tamed in the colonies of the Indians, but seldom brought up by them, because it must be chiefly fed upon ants, which are very troublesome to procure.

Four different species of boars abound in Paraguay. The most remarkable are those which have upon their backs a spungy, glandulous little piece of flesh, swelled with a white liquor resembling milk, and scented like musk. This boss is immediately amputated after the animal's death, before the intolerable odour of musk has infected the flesh, and rendered it unfit for use. In woods, near marshes, and marshy fields, wander herds of boars, which are killed, either with a stake, or with arrows, by the Indians. Herds of boars sometimes rushed into the colony of St. Ferdinand, perhaps from the hope of finding food there, perhaps from some other motive. But the Abipones, assembling together, killed a great number of them, and feasted sumptuously upon their flesh for some days. I was told that boars entered thetowns of the Uruguay in the same manner. The Abiponian women make themselves travelling dresses of the skins of this animal, and its bristles are collected into small bundles, and used as combs.

THE ZORRINO.

THE ZORRINO.

THE ZORRINO.

There are three sorts of foxes here, different from those of our country. The Abipones call the larger ones Kaalk, the lesser Licheran, and the least Lichera, which last is named Zorrino by the Spaniards, and by the French Canadians Bête Puante, the stinking beast, or Enfant du Diable, child of the devil; appellations which it justly deserves. This animal, which is equal in size to a small rabbit, of a chesnut colour, and marked on each side by two white lines, though it pleases the eyes by its elegant form, offends the nostrils by its excessive stink. It may be commended for beauty, but not for politeness; for at every passer-by it squirts, with certain aim, a liquor so pestilent, that dogs, if sprinkled with it, will howl dreadfully, and roll themselves for some time on the ground, as if scalded with boiling water. If it touch the eyes, blindness is the certain consequence. If a woollen or linen garment, a stick, or anything else, be sprinkled with it, no farther use can be made of the article on account of the stink, which no art will ever take away. If one of these animals shed his urine in the open plain, the stench is carried by the wind the space of a league. That white liquor shines in the night like phosphorus, and wherever it passes, looks like a ray of fire. If a skunk creep into a house, and scatter any of that terrible liquor, the inhabitants, one and all, rush out, as if the house was on fire, and fly into the street or open plain, to breathe freely, that they may not be stifled with the stench. Therefore, although this animal is very little and weak, it is dreaded extremely by tigers, mastiffs, and all mortals. Its unequalled stink is its means of defence. Whoever desires to possess its most beautiful skin, in order to catch it, without injury to himself, must take it by the tail, and hold it with its head towards the ground; for, by this means, it loses the use of its pestiferous syringe, and cannot squirt out that horrible liquid. Some assert that the fat in the kidneys of the skunk is either the cause, or the receptacle of the stink, and that if this be taken away, the flesh may be eaten, and is not of an unpleasant savour: I envy no one such a dainty.

Many have written of the skunk, but generallyfrom the accounts of others: I, alas! from my own experience. I feel both shame and grief in refreshing the sad remembrance of my disaster; but will, nevertheless, relate it, to show you my candour. When, with some fifty companions, we journeyed from the port of Buenos-Ayres, where we first landed, through an immense plain of an hundred and forty leagues, to Cordoba, we were all conveyed in waggons, drawn by four oxen; for a waggon in those deserts serves both for house and bed. Reclining, day and night, upon a mattress, we pursued our journey according to the season, the roads, and the weather. The jolting of this rude vehicle creates nausea, and fatigues the whole frame, so that quitting it at evening, to enjoy the fresh air, was quite a relief. As I was walking with two Spaniards, I spied a skunk gently approaching us: "Look," cried I, "what a beautiful animal is that!" We trusted too much to external appearance. Not one of us perceived what a pest was concealed under this elegant skin. Hastening our steps we all emulously ran to catch the animal, and my ill stars directed that I should outstrip both the Spaniards. The cunning skunk, spying me near him, feigned submission, stood still, and, as it were, offered himself my captive. Distrusting the blandishments of an animal that was unknown to me,I gently touched it with a stick. In a moment it lifted up its leg, and discharged at me that Stygian pest. It sprinkled my left cheek all over, and then victorious, took to flight immediately. That my eyes were spared may be accounted a blessing. I stood thunderstruck, become, in an instant, intolerable to myself; for the horrid stench had diffused itself from my cheek into every part of my body, to my very inner garments; and spreading in a moment through the plain, far and wide, announced what had happened to my companions. Some on foot, some on horseback, they all hastened to look at me, amidst peals of laughter; but, smelling me from a distance, returned a long way back, with greater speed than they had come. Like an excommunicated person, I was shunned by all, and was forbidden to enter the very tent where I used to sup with the rest. I, therefore, betook myself to my own waggon. On asking the Spanish driver if he smelt any thing amiss, he replied that he had been deprived of the power of smell for four years. "Oh! fortunate circumstance!" cried I, for if the driver had been in possession of this faculty, I should have been banished from my own waggon also. Throwing off all my clothes, I washed, wiped, and rubbed my face over and over again. But this was washing the blackamoorwhite. That night I wished I could have been separated from my body, so entirely had that liquid exhalation penetrated my very fibres, especially my cheek, which it burnt like fire. My clothes, all of which I had entirely thrown off, though daily exposed to wind, rain, sun, and dust, for more than a month, on the top of the waggon, always retained the vile scent, and could be made no possible use of. Had I a hundred tongues I should think them all insufficient to convey an adequate idea of the stench of this ill-scented beast. Whether it be urine which it discharges, or any other liquid, I am at a loss to determine. This is indubitable,—that if Theophrastus, Paracelsus, and any other chemist, had conspired together, in all their furnaces and shops, and with all their arts, they could never have composed a stink more intolerable than that which the skunk exhales by nature. Spirit of hartshorn, or any more powerful odour, if there be such, will be called aromatic scents, frankincense, balm of Gilead, and the most fragrant carnations and roses, by him that has once smelt the skunk. Europe may be congratulated upon her good fortune in being unacquainted with this cursed beast.

Let this fetid animal be succeeded by theridiculous biscacha, which closely resembles a hare, has a tail like that of a fox, and is marked with black and white spots. Its hair is exceedingly soft. In the plains, particularly in the more elevated situations, these animals dig themselves burrows so artfully, that no part of them is exposed to the rain. They are divided into separate apartments, as several families usually inhabit the same place. On the surface of the earth many doors are opened into the cave, at which crowds of them sit at sun-set, and carefully listen if any one be approaching; but if all is quiet they go out to pasture on moonlight nights, and make deplorable havoc in the neighbouring plains; for they are extremely fond of wheat and maize, and if either of these is to be had, will not feed on grass. At the doors of their burrows they heap up dry bones, bits of wood, and any other rubbish they can light upon, but for what purpose, no one hitherto has been able even to conjecture. The Spanish rustics sometimes amuse themselves with hunting these animals. They pour many pitchers of water into their subterranean dwellings, so that, to avoid drowning, the creatures leap out into the plain, and, no opportunity of escape being allowed them, are killed with stakes. Their flesh, unless they be very old, is not despised, even by the Spaniards.

THE HARE.

Hares, differing from those of Europe, in size alone, do exist in Paraguay; but I imagine there must be very few, because, though I have often traversed the whole province, and have lived chiefly amongst the Indians, who spare no kinds of animals, I never saw but one. In Tucuman, where it looks towards Peru, I understand that hares are not so scarce.

As rabbits are extremely numerous in every part of this country, there is likewise great variety amongst them. Some, of various colours, like those of our country, live under ground. Others, which hide themselves under shrubs and bushes, are less than hares, larger than our rabbits, and of a bay, or rather a chesnut colour. Their flesh, which is extremely well tasted, may be seen at the tables even of the more wealthy. Several pairs of these rabbits are said to have been brought from Spain by some person who, in travelling through Paraguay into Peru, took rabbits of each sex out of their coop, and set them loose on the plain to feed, at which time some of them escaped and ran away. Their posterity is, at this day, extremely numerous in Tucuman, especially in the land ofSt. Iago. Other kinds of rabbits, scarce bigger than dormice, conceal themselves sometimes in the hedges of fields, sometimes in holes under ground, and, being innumerable, are extremely pernicious to wheat. The Abipones, who undertake most of their journeys without provisions, when they wish to dine or sup, set fire to the tall dry grass in the plain, in order to kill and roast the animals concealed underneath it, which leap out for fear of the fire. Were tigers, deer, stags, and emus, not to be had, there would never be a deficiency of rabbits, a hundred of which they easily take, and hang upon a string, after a chase of this kind. I was told by Barreda, the old General of the St. Iagans, that in hasty marches in search of the enemy, when there was no time for hunting, rabbits, dried in the air, served the Abipones for victuals.

The shores of the Parana and Paraguay, and the larger islands of these rivers, abound in stags, which, in no respect, differ from those of Europe. Not one is to be seen in any other part of Paraguay. The Abipones pursue the stags on swift horses, and laying hold of their horns, kill them either with a knife or a spear; they also pierce them with thick arrows, whenhunting in a wood impervious to horses. Formerly, before the savages were acquainted with iron, they prefixed a stag's horn to their spears, instead of an iron point, and this weapon inflicted very deep wounds. Whilst I dwelt amongst them, some of the elder Abipones still used spears pointed with stags' horn, and were the more dreaded on that account. Stags' skins, which are used for various purposes, the Spaniards soften and polish with the melted fat of mares. They also entertain an idea that the smallest piece of stag's skin, worn close to the body, is a powerful preservative against the bites of serpents, as it is well known that stags and deer have frequent conflicts with these animals.

On entering the plain, wherever you turn your eyes you will see nothing but roebucks, exactly like European ones. Those which inhabit the plains are of a chesnut colour, but brighter; those which live in the woods, of a darker chesnut, but both are marked with white spots. When young they are easily tamed at home. I once nourished a little fawn, only a few days old, brought me by an Indian, on cow's milk, and reared it in my own apartment. When grown older, it went daily into the plainto pasture along with the cows, which are milked in the court-yard, but returned to my room of its own accord. When he found it shut he signified his arrival by knocking against the door with his feet, often in the middle of the night. He followed me, whether walking or riding, like a dog. He beheld a crowd of dogs running after him without alarm, and often put them to flight by stamping on the ground with his feet. By tinkling a collar of bells which I placed round his neck, he frightened all the dogs, and deceived them into thinking him some strange and formidable animal. He fed upon meat, bread, roots, and grass, but a sheet of paper was quite a treat to him, and sweeter than honey to his taste. The collar, which many months before I had fitted to his neck, beginning to squeeze him as he grew older, I endeavoured to loosen it; when the little animal, imagining that I did it with the intent of causing his death, and believing me to be his enemy, took to flight, and wandered up and down the more distant plains, without revisiting me for a month. He was often seen by the Indians. At length I directed my attention towards recalling and reconciling him. Allured by a sheet of paper, which I showed him from a distance, he approached me, though with a trembling foot, and being presented at intervals with freshsheets of paper, followed me to the house, unmindful of his terror and offence, and ever after remained, as long as he lived, with the utmost fidelity in my house. He would often fight with mules for half an hour together, affording a spectacle worthy to be seen and applauded by the assembled Indians; for resting on his fore-feet, he kicked the head of the mule every now and then with his hinder ones, and whilst his antagonist with bites and kicks endeavoured to render like for like, the fawn, by leaping backwards and forwards with incredible celerity, eluded the threats and anger of the enraged beast. After obtaining so many victories, to the astonishment and applause of the whole town, engaging in the plain with an untamed mule, his back was broken by the kicks of his adversary, which occasioned his death, at two years of age, when, being a male, he had very large horns. You will scarce believe how we grieved for his death. I still have in my possession a music-book bound with his skin.

The ykiparà, a species of mole lurking in holes under ground, makes a horrid noise, like the sound of a great drum beat at a distance, which is scarce heard without alarm by strangers. I cannot describe the appearance of thislittle animal, never having seen, though frequently heard it. I imagine that its voice must sound the louder from being re-echoed by the hollow corners and windings of the earth.

Were I individually to describe the names, forms, and properties of all the apes which inhabit the North of Paraguay, this subject alone would fill a volume. Those called caraya are the most numerous and the ugliest species. Their hair is tawny, they are full of melancholy, always querulous, always morose, always snappish. As they howl incessantly day and night no one chooses to take them home and tame them. They sit by crowds on trees, and wander about in search of food. When they howl with most pertinacity it is a sign of rain or storms; the sound they utter resembles the creaking of waggons with ungreased wheels, and as hundreds howl in concert, may be heard many leagues off. They are of a middle size.

The little apes called càyí are scarce a span long, when full grown; they are merry, playful, and, if tamed young, extremely docile. But they can seldom be allowed to walk up and down the house at large, for, wanting to touchand taste every thing, they throw down ink-stands and other vessels, spill liquors, tear books, and break every thing made of glass. They put their fingers into boxes, lamps, and jugs, smell them, and dirt the table and people's clothes. They steal every thing fit to eat that they can lay hands on. They are, therefore, tied with a long slender cord in such a manner that they may be able to go up and down. We had a little ape of this kind in the town of St. Joachim, which readily unclasped the men's spurs when they returned from riding. I have seen others take a journey seated on the back of a dog, and by mimicking the actions of men, like buffoons, excite both anger and ridicule. It is, therefore, no wonder that apes of this kind should be prized both by Indians and Europeans, and bought at a high price. Potatoes are their daily fare, but they also feed sometimes on flesh, bread, or any thing made of flour. Great care must be taken not to give them too large a portion, otherwise they will eat till they burst. In the woods, when quite young, they are carried about on the backs of their mothers, round whose necks they put their arms, like infants, and in this manner are borne along the boughs of trees, wherever there is any chance of finding food. An Indian, therefore, who wants a live ape, kills the mother with anarrow, and the little one never suffers itself to be torn from her without howling. I will tell you something still more surprizing, and which seems almost incredible. The Guaranies sometimes remain in the woods four days together, employed in hunting wild beasts. Having killed a number of apes, they consume part of them on the journey, and roasting the rest to prevent their growing putrid from the heat of the sun, carry them to the town to be eaten at home. The little apes, which are kept alive for diversion, know their mothers when roasted and blacker than a coal, and adhere so tenaciously to their shoulders, that their running away is not the least to be apprehended. Who does not admire the filial affection of these animals, which, though imitators of mankind in other respects, may certainly be their instructors in this?

The Spanish Paraguayrians employed in collecting the herb of Paraguay in the thick northern woods, often see very large and melancholy apes, with extremely long beards, on account of which circumstance they have given them a ridiculous name which I prudently forbear to mention. They love dark recesses, flying mankind and the light, but are universally dreaded, on account of the arms they make useof: for at every passer-by they throw some of their stinking dung, which is always ready. But in comparison to that of the skunk, this stink may be accounted rose and saffron. No one has hitherto ever thought of catching and taming them.

In the more secret recesses of the woods wander apes, which the Guaranies call caruguà, and the Spaniardsdiablos del monte, devils of the woods. They are hairy, and taller than other apes; in walking they generally stand on their hind-feet. Their footsteps are like those of a boy of fourteen years old. They love solitude, and do not lie in wait for man, but if they spy one near them in the narrow parts of the forests, they tear him to pieces with the utmost ferocity. I knew of a Guarany belonging to the new colony of St. Stanislaus, who died of a dreadful wound he received from a caruguà. An Indian belonging to the same colony killed one of these apes in a distant wood. Fearing that the trouble of a long journey, under a burning sun, would prove insufferable, he left the carcass of the beast, but cut off his horrid nails, more formidable than any dagger, and showed them to Father Pietro Paulo Danesi, a Roman, to whom the care of the town was atthat time entrusted; they were carried about the other Guarany towns, that all who beheld might thereby judge of the beast to whom they belonged, and learn to know and dread the terrific arms of the caruguà, whenever they had to traverse rugged forests. I was once very near becoming the prey of one of these ferocious beasts. Passing the night in the woods of Mbaeverà, whilst the Indians and my companion Paschali Vilalba were sound asleep, I heard the noise of boughs breaking, together with a little singing sound resembling a human voice. As the voice and the noise approached nearer to me, and I was at a great distance from the fire of the Indians, I cried out and inquired of my comrades, who were at length awakened by my clamour, what bird or beast uttered those sounds? After listening awhile, they all exclaimed that the caruguà, the devil of the woods, was approaching. A number of them ran to encounter him, armed with spears and firebrands. The beast, alarmed at their approach, hastened back; and thus delivered from peril, I breathed once again.

The quatì appears to be of a mongrel breed, for its snout is like that of a barrow-pig, its head like that of a fox, while the rest of itsbody resembles a middle-sized ape, with a yellow skin, and a tail longer than all the rest of its body, divided into little rings of various colours. Like apes, these animals leap up and down the boughs of trees, on the fruit of which they subsist, though you sometimes meet a numerous herd of them jumping about upon the ground. Even when full grown, they are completely tamed by the Indians, within a few days, but are always destructive to hens, and their eggs, which they delight in.

The last of the different tribes of apes is an animal which, from the slothfulness of its nature, and the slowness of its motions, is called by the Guaranies, aỳ, and by the Spaniards,la pereza, the sloth. It is about the size of a fox, and has a small head, a narrow face, smooth nose, little black eyes, and long hair, of the colour of ashes, which spreads over its neck like a mane. It has a dusky streak in the middle of its back, long nails, bent backwards on each foot, a wide mouth, a thick tail, weak teeth, no ears; its appearance, in short, is ridiculous and disagreeable in every point of view. It lives upon the tops of trees, and feeds upon their leaves, and sometimes upon the smaller kinds of ants. It never gets up upon its feet,nor is it ever seen to drink, perhaps content with dew. Slower than any tortoise, it so dreads the slightest motion, that it spends a whole day in creeping up or down a tree. It detests the least drop of rain. Every now and then it pronounces the letter I, like a person groaning. It has a remarkably firm skin; but its flesh is nauseated even by the Indians. From what I have said, you may perceive that this most slothful animal is extremely dissimilar to apes, which spend the whole day in running, leaping, and playing, as if impatient of the shortest respite. The Indians, in travelling, take great delight in the flesh of apes, which, in various countries of America, is the chief and most esteemed food of the Indians. Moreover, many of the Americans have believed apes to possess the power of speech, and to feign themselves dumb, that they may not be obliged to labour by the Spaniards. Whenever an ape is wounded by a bullet, he puts his hand to the wound, as if to prevent his life from being shed with his blood; and when the body is quite lifeless, stiff, and cold, the hand remains in the same situation. I have found, from experience, that their teeth are hurtful and dangerous; for my companion, after being bitten by a mad she ape, was seized with an erysipelas, which spread from the arm to the head, induced a great heat and swelling,and caused terrible, and almost mortal agonies. In European towns I have seen many apes which are not found in any part of Paraguay; for in various countries there is a great variety of apes; their names are also various on account of the diversity of tongues.

This little animal, which is scarce larger than a common tortoise, is called by the Spaniards armadillo. Its whole body is armed with horny scales, elegantly varied with red and white. Its head, which resembles that of a young pig, it discovers in walking, but on the approach of danger entirely conceals under this coat of mail. It has rather a long neck. Its scales are clothed here and there with white hairs, especially under the belly. The feet are like those of a tortoise, with five unequal fingers, armed with very sharp nails with which it digs holes under ground to hide itself in, or clings so firmly to the surface of the earth that the strongest man can hardly make it loosen its hold. It has a long scaly tail, of which, prefixed to a reed, the Abipones make military trumpets. Its little ears are destitute both of hairs and scales. It is furnished with two joints near the neck, so that it can bend its throat here and there. It runs very fast, and makes many doubles toescape the pursuit of dogs and men. It feeds upon herbs and roots, drinks plentifully and grows very fat. Dogs discover its subterranean retreats by the scent. This animal does not lay eggs, like a tortoise, but brings forth a numerous living progeny. Paraguay produces three species of armadillos, all different in form, size and name. To the first kind belong armadillos full two spans long, and larger than a barrow-pig, with very long nails, and some with yellow, others with red hairs. The scales of the red ones, half burnt and pulverized, are very efficacious in healing horses' backs, which are either ulcerated, or stripped of their hair. These larger armadillos, on account of their feeding on the carcasses of mules and horses, are loathed by most people; but their great shells, or coats of mail, are used by the lower order of Spaniards for dishes and plates. Armadillos of the second species, which are much smaller than the others, abstain from carcasses, and yield flesh and fat of a very pleasant savour. The smallest of the three kinds roll themselves up at will, like a hedge-hog. Such is the strength of their globose coat of mail, that no force is sufficient to make it expand, except you pour water with violence upon it; for when wetted they open themselves voluntarily. Their flesh is very white, full of excellent gravy, and even by an Europeanwould be esteemed superior to capon, pheasant, or chicken. Their fat is also used for medicinal purposes. The plains of Paraguay swarm with these mailed animals.

So far concerning the wild quadrupeds indigenous to Paraguay. Let us now proceed to amphibious animals.

At the head of the amphibious animals stands the crocodile, which exceeds all the rest in the slowness of its motions, and the size of its body. The young creature, when it breaks its shell, resembles a small lizard, such as is commonly seen in European gardens, scarce more than half a span in length. In the course of years it grows by degrees to an enormous size. Crocodiles ten feet long are very common in Paraguay. When a two years' drought had exhausted many of the lakes and rivers in Paraguay, among other aquatic beasts we found numbers of crocodiles roaming about the plain, which died of thirst from being unable to get a sufficiency of water. I am of opinion that most crocodiles reach to extreme old age from the advantage of a singular nature, by which they are so effectually fortified, that it is exceedingly difficult to kill them. I will give you a description of this animal. It has a large, flat head, a very wide mouth, armedon each side with extremely sharp, but unequal teeth, and large, round grey eyes, with a black pupil. It has no tongue, but the place of one is supplied by a little immoveable membrane. Its feet, which are furnished like birds' claws with four fingers, and nails, it uses, sometimes in walking slowly on the shore, sometimes in swimming. Its body, which resembles a huge trunk, terminates in a long tail, like the point of a weapon, at the extremity of which lies a small black ball, closed on every side, the distinguishing mark of the female sex, for the males are not furnished with this ball. Its rough skin, covered with very hard scales, which are elegantly variegated with black and white, like shells, forms a mail which renders its head, back and tail impenetrable to all weapons. Softer scales adorn rather than arm its belly, sides and feet, where circular or square figures, distinguished at intervals by a colour partly yellow, partly dusky, project, like shells, from the surface of the skin. The tail is composed of blackish rings, and a little denticulated fin which it moves in swimming. The skin of the neck is softer, and very easily wounded. Crocodiles on being attacked by tigers, kill them by a stroke of their tail. They are themselves killed if their neck or belly, both which are covered with softer skin, is wounded by thehorns or claws of beasts, by a bullet, a spear, or an arrow; on these occasions they take to swimming, but the Indians generally swim after them, and bring them back to shore. During a pretty violent south wind crocodiles are rendered torpid by the cold at night, from being immersed in pools; but when the sun is risen, they lie, like logs of wood, on the sunny shore to warm themselves, and their limbs being stiffened, and their senses almost gone, are pierced with spears by the Abipones, without danger or trouble. Leaving their bodies, they carry away nothing but the teeth, and the little bones of the spine, which, being as hard as iron, as sharp as awls, and at the same time elastic, are used by them for the purpose of pricking their limbs, at drinking parties. Crocodiles' teeth, which are thought by the Indians extremely efficacious in curing or preventing the bites of serpents, they wear themselves, or sell to the Spaniards. The flesh of crocodiles is tender, and so white that it can hardly be distinguished from that of sturgeon. Many American nations, especially those which inhabit the islands of the Orinoco, and others, are said to feed on it. But in Paraguay, excepting the Payaguas, who live near rivers, scarce any other nation eats them, because that country abounds in cattle, and wild animals, as well as in vegetables and fruits.But I think that no European would dislike the flesh of the crocodile, unless it were on account of the musk which it has both in its jaws and testicles. Provident priests hang up a small particle of the glans, to which that musk adheres, wrapped in a piece of gold, or silk stuff, in the sacred coffer of the great altar, where the Eucharist is kept, in order to keep off worms, which, in so moist and hot a climate, are otherwise bred in the sacred wafer.

When you hear it said that crocodiles abound in venom, pray account it an old wife's fable; for it is very certain that they are eaten by the Indians, and would be eagerly sought by all Europeans also, were it not for their musk. Crocodiles' teeth grow very deep in the head, are hollow at the root, but where they terminate in a point, extremely solid, and capable of tearing the hardest substance. It is a terrible circumstance that whatever this beast gets within its teeth it never lets loose of. In the new kingdom of Granada, if a crocodile catches hold of the arm of a swimming Indian with his jaws, those who come to his assistance immediately cut it off, to preserve the rest of the body, as the man would otherwise lose his life. I will now describe to you their manner of breeding. The females, almost every day, lay about thirty eggs, cylinder-shaped, and as large asthose of ducks; these eggs are buried under the sand, and when heated by the sun, bring forth creatures like our lizards. As crocodiles have short feet, and sweep the ground with their vast bellies, they crush a number of eggs whenever they move: for if Providence had not ordered it thus, there would be no room left either for beasts or fishes in America. Crocodiles' eggs are in high esteem amongst the Indians. In the town of Concepcion two crocodiles, a male and a female, newly hatched, were brought by an Abipon to my companion, at whose request I undertook the care of rearing them. To prevent them from escaping, I shut them both up in a very wide and deep wooden mortar, frequently poured fresh water on them, and threw in mud, little fishes, and very small pieces of meat for them to feed upon. This was their habitation, this their food, during seven months. I sometimes took them out of the water, and allowed them to walk up and down the court-yard of the house. The Abipones were delighted to see the little creatures playing on the grass, or striving together with gaping mouths and erected bodies. I had a young dog, which, as was natural to his age, was extremely playful. He imprudently rushed barking upon the crocodiles, when one of them laid hold of his nostrils with its very sharpteeth. Unable by any means to get rid of this disagreeable appendage, he at length came to me and implored my assistance, when by the hands of the by-standing Abipones, who were laughing heartily at the adventure, the pertinacious crocodile was torn from his nose. It was evident that these beasts were extremely quick of hearing, for they heard the slightest noises, such as would escape human ears—perceived thunder from a cloud at a great distance below the horizon, and acquainted me with the circumstance by repeatedly murmuring ù ù ù ù. At seven months of age, when scarce a span long, they were killed by the cold, in a journey of one and twenty days, taken with the Spanish soldiers, to change the situation of the colony. A sharp frost, for it was the winter season, killed these pupils of mine. Had they enjoyed their natural liberty and food, I have no doubt they would have grown more in so many months.

Much has been written concerning the ferocity of crocodiles towards mankind. I contradict no one. But it would be wronging the Paraguayrian crocodiles to complain of them, for during the two and twenty years of my residence in that country, I never heard of a single creature's being killed or hurt by a crocodile. Almost all the Abipones, men, women,boys and girls, daily cooled themselves during the heat of the sun, by bathing in rivers, pools, streams and lakes, all which are frequented by crocodiles; yet no one ever received any injury from these animals, no one suspecting the danger of such a thing. They are generally scared away by the noise which the Indians make in swimming, especially the black ones; for the red are considered more bold and more dangerous by the Abipones. But I myself have found that crocodiles of any colour, whether in the water or on dry land, are perfectly harmless. Crossing rivers in a bull's hide, or low boat, I have often seen crocodiles swimming past, with erected heads, sparkling eyes, and gaping mouths; but knowing them to be harmless, I beheld them with the utmost unconcern. In the town of the Rosary, scarce a gun-shot from my house, there was a pool swarming with crocodiles. The town of St. Joachim was surrounded with lakes. About sun-set we often went out to breathe the fresh air, and in our walk always met with crocodiles of every age and species, but never received any injury from them, though unarmed, and perhaps on that account more safe: for it is my opinion that crocodiles have been injurious chiefly to those by whom they have been themselves injured. They spare those that spare them. I do not in the leastwonder that in the territories of Quito, and Nuevo Reyno, and in certain parts of Asia and Africa, crocodiles have shown the utmost fury towards men, when they are daily tormented, taken, and slain, by the inhabitants, who feed regularly upon their flesh.

Different nations make use of different artifices in hunting and killing crocodiles. Some go upon the river in boats, and throw into the water a piece of wood, to which flesh or fish is fastened with a long rope. The crocodiles swallow the wood along with the flesh, but as it is crossed in their jaws, are unable to throw it up, and being dragged to the bank by means of the rope, are presently killed. Others take a long, sharp, pointed piece of timber, and when the crocodile approaches thrust it deep into the animal's jaws, by which means it is killed without danger. The Abipones generally pierce those crocodiles with a spear which they find lying basking in the sun quite stiffened with cold. An arrow, though extremely strong, unless it touch the neck of the crocodile, where the skin is softer, always proves a weak and precarious instrument of death. The same may be said of bullets. Though crocodiles are perfectly harmless to mankind in Paraguay, they are in like proportion destructive to fishes, which are either consumed or put to flight bythem. They are useful in medicine. Wounds inflicted by a crocodile are happily cured by being smeared with the fat of the same animal. One of their intestines, when dried and reduced to powder, is a remedy for the pain of the stone. Little stones, like common flint, found in the stomach of the crocodile, are said to be very efficacious in curing quartan agues, and stone in the kidneys, if reduced to powder and drunk. I have observed elsewhere that envenomed wounds of snakes are both healed and prevented by crocodiles' teeth, and shall tell you many things relative to the use of this remedy, in their proper place.

If I have been too prolix in my remarks on this prince of amphibious animals, the reader will excuse it, for I shall aim at brevity in treating of more ignoble creatures.

In lakes and rivers dwells the water-dog, called by the Guaranies aguarà, and I have often seen it in plains near the shore. Though larger than a mastiff it is afraid of every thing, takes to flight on espying a man at a distance, and is an object of fear to no one. Its ears resemble those of an ass, its head that of a dog. It has plenty of strong and sharp teeth. By night it roars very loud, and lies in waitfor lesser animals. The Abipones hunt it for the sake of its skin alone, which is shaggy, of a dark yellow colour, and marked along the back with a black line like an ass. Its hair is extremely soft and much valued by the Spaniards on account of its efficacy in assuaging sciatica, gout, and pains in the bowels. Some lay it upon saddles, finding its warmth extremely salutary. On returning from Paraguay I brought some of it home, but it was stolen from me, a loss which I regret to this day.

This beast, which is larger than a mastiff, is generally concealed under deep water. It is shaggy, with a long tail, ending in a point, and is armed with very strong nails. It lays hold of horses and mules, as they are swimming across rivers, and drags them to the bottom. Shortly after, the bowels of the animal, which it has torn to pieces, are seen floating on the surface of the water. The yguarò generally dwells in deep gulphs of rivers, but digs large caverns in the higher banks, where it can hide both itself and its offspring. On the high shores of the Paraguay, we often heard a tremendous noise in our nightly navigation, and the sailors and soldiers informed me that it proceeded from those caves, which were hollowedby the continual dashing of the water, and had at length begun to gape.

This dreadful beast, which has a head and claws like those of a tiger, which resembles a mastiff in size, has no tail, and possesses singular ferocity, and equal swiftness, is called by the Guaranies aò, a word signifying clothing, but given to this beast because, from its wool, the Guaranies formerly wove themselves garments. They wander gregariously in pools, marshy places, or woods far from the noise of men. But if one of them chance to meet an Indian hunting, his life is as good as gone, unless he can avoid its cruel fangs, by a very swift flight, or by ascending a tree; though when seated on the very highest boughs he cannot be perfectly secure, for as these ferocious animals are incapable of climbing a tree, they will tear it up by the roots with their claws, and when it falls seize hold of their prey. These things the Indians and Spaniards all agree in relating and believing. For my part, after so many journeys on foot, and on horseback, after traversing so many of the woods, plains and marshes of Paraguay, I never saw even the shadow of such a beast. From which I infer that they cannot be very numerous, nor commonto the whole province. Would that they were banished from every part of Paraguay! That ferocious animal which writers callfamacosio, most of us think to differ from the aò in name only.

The water-pig inhabits the larger rivers and streams, but not the very largest, although, as it feeds upon grass, it comes out to pasture in the neighbouring plains, not without committing great depredations in the fields. When full grown it resembles a pig of two years old in size, and almost in appearance, except in its vast round head, and the whiskers on its upper lip, which are similar to those of a cat. It has short ears, large, black eyes, a very wide mouth, but rather narrow lips, dusky and very short hair, and no tail. Besides two long, curved tusks, which project from its mouth, it is armed with forty-eight teeth, plain at the top, but hollow beneath. Its feet are like those of a pig; the front ones have four nails, the hind only three. These beasts swim or walk in company, and cross rivers with surprizing expedition. By night they bray like asses, and sometimes alarm travellers unacquainted with America. Their flesh is very like pork, but as it has a fishy taste, is eaten by none but theIndians; though when young they are reckoned a dainty by Europeans even. Capiiguáras may be wounded without difficulty, either with a spear, an arrow, or a ball, but it requires great good fortune to catch them; for on receiving a wound, as they are excellent swimmers and divers, they immediately hide themselves under water, and extract the arrow or spear which is sticking in their flesh. The Abipones, who frequently employ themselves in hunting these animals, after wounding a pig, swim after it and overtake it in the water. The skin of the capiiguára is very thick, and were it properly dressed, would be useful in various ways.

Otters swarm in the lakes and rivers of Paraguay. If I mistake not, they differ from those of Europe in no other respect than in being somewhat smaller. They are most numerous in the Abiponian territories, and those adjacent to the cities of Sta. Fè, Cordoba, and Corrientes. In the distant hordes of the Mocobios and Abipones, towards the north, there are no otters, or very few at least. The savages make use of them in various ways. They feed upon their flesh, and make cloaks of their skins.

When the lakes and rivers are almost exhausted by a long drought, the Abipones goout to hunt otters. If the water is shallow enough to ford, hounds are sent forwards, and many hundreds killed with stakes in one day, though they are extremely apt to bite, and have very sharp teeth, on which account, in killing them, both the Indians and their dogs often receive wounds which are not cured in a few days.

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