THE PAMPAS CAT.[29]
This animal, as its name implies, is found on the Pampas of South America, extending as far south as the Strait of Magellan, and being especially abundant in the region of the Rio Negro. It is about forty inches long, with a shortish tail and long fur: the hairs, indeed, sometimes attain a length of four or five inches.“The colour of the skin is a pale yellowish-grey, traversed by regularly disposed yellow or brown bands, which run obliquely from the back and the flanks. The hairs, considered separately, are brown at the root, then yellow, and finally black at the point, but those of the hinder part of the back are black at the root, then grey, then yellowish-white, and finally white up to the point, which is black.”
The Pampas Cat is a comparatively harmless beast, not preying upon poultry-yards, but confining itself to the small Mammals which abound in the South American steppes.