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Show 1832-3. MALDONADO. 56 . . . t u h so tame and inqmsitlve, ye the same herd. Altho g b k they are exceedingly wary. when approached on horse ac ' f t and the deer knows In this country no body goes ho n . oo o' unted and arme d W.l th ly when e IS m . man as its enemy, on. recent establishment m the bolas. At Bahia Blanca, ~ d to find how little the · I was surpnse . Northern Patagoma, day I fired ten times, · fa gun· one deer cared for the nOise o . . 1 . and it was much . . h ds at one amma ' from within mg ty yar ' . the ground than at the 1 d t the ball cuttmg up I more start e a . M owder being exhausted, was report of the nfle. y p be it spoken), to get obliged (to my sh arne aS a sportsman h 11 t'll the deer ran away· 1 . up and a oo I . 'th respect to this anima' IS The most ?unous fact :~d offensive odour which pro-the overpowenngly strong . 't I'ndescribahle: several h b k It IS qm e · ceeds from t e uc · . which is now mounted h'l t ki ning the speCimen b times w I s s n I almost overcome Y at the Zoological Museuk:n' . wa~lk pocket-handkerchief, I . d the s m m a SI nausea. .t lde .t u ph ome . t hI' S h an dkerchief' after being well and so carne I . d d . t was of course, as re-washed I continually use ' an I ' f one year ' h d . et every time, for a space o peatedly was e ' y first unfolded, I distinctly per-and seven months, whh~n an astonishing instance ceived the odour. T IS appears h' h in its nature, of some matter, w 1c of the permanence most subtile and volatile. Fre-nevertheless, must be h d' ta of half a mile to lee-h ing at t e IS nee . quently, w en pass . d the whole air tainted With ward of a herd, I ha~e perhceive 11 f m the buck is most th ffl.uvium I beheve t e sme ro f o~:rful at ~he period when its h?rns are perfect, o~ re~ p h h . skin When in this state the meat Is, o from t e . talry neat~ble . but the Gauchos assert, that if course qm e u ' · · ed I buried for some time in fresh earth, the ~amt IS remov .cot-have somewhere read that the islanders m th~ no~~~d~ i~ the land treat the rank carcasses of the fish-eatmg same manner. · ecies · of The order Rodentia is here very numerous m sp . 1832-3. MALDONADO. 57 mice aJone I obtained no less than eight kinds.* The largest gnawing animal in the world, the Ifydrocluerus Capybara (the water-hog), is here also common. One which I shot at Monte Video weighed ninety-eight pounds : its length, from the end of the snout to the stump-like tail, was three feet two inches; and its girth, three feet eight. These great Rodents are generally called " carpinchos :" they occasionally frequent the islands in the mouth of the Plata, where the water is quite salt, but are far more abundant on the borders of fresh-water lakes and rivers. Near Maldonado three or four generally live together. In the daytime they either lie among the aquatic plants, or openly feed on the turf plain. t When viewed at a distance, from their manner of walking and colour, they resemble pigs : but when seated on their haunches, and attentively watching any object with one eye, they reassume the appearance of their congeners, the cavies. Both the front and side view of their head has quite a ludicrous aspect, from the great depth of their jaw. These animals, at Maldonado, were very tame ; by cautiously walking, I approached within three yards of four old ones. This tameness may probably be accounted for, by the Jaguar having been banished for some years, and by the Gaucho not thinking it worth his while to hunt them. As I approached nearer and nearer they frequently made their peculiar noise, which is a low abrupt grunt ; not having much actual sound, • These have been named and described by Mr. Waterhouse at the meetings of the Zoological Society. I must be allowed to take this opportunity of returning my cordial thanks to Mr. Waterhouse, and to the other gentlemen attached to that Society, for their kind and most liberal assistance on all occasions. t In the stomach and duodenum of a carpincho which I opened, I found a very large quantity of a thin yellowish fluid, in which scarcely a fibre could be distinguished. Mr. Owen informs me that a part of the resophagus is so constructed, that nothing much larger than a crowquill can be passed down. Certainly the broad teeth and strong jaws of this animal are well fitted to grind into pulp the aquatic plants on which it feeds. |