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Show • -4-0 BOOK 1 ~ H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. But it refembles no animal m01·e than the turtle, a~thoug~ many. parts of its form are totallydiffimilar. w~ might give lt ~he name ot the teftaceous quadruped. When this animal happens to ue chac~d on I.evel ground, it has no means of efcaping ~rom the _hands of .l ts purfuers ; b1:1t as it chie~y iQhabits the mountams, when 1t meets w.Jth any declivity it coils itfdf up in the form of a gloue, and by rollmg itiClf down the dcfcent fools the hunter. The Tcchil'hi, which had elfcwherc the name of Ako, was a quadmped of Mexico, and other countries of Amcric:.t, which from . its refemblance to a little dog was called by the Spamards Perro, wlu h fignifies dog. It was of a melancholy afpeCt and perfeCl:ly du tnb, from. whence the fitbulous account propag ted by many authors ftill living arofe, of dogs becoming mute when tranfported from the old to the new world. The fldh of . the 'l'echic!Ji was eat by the Mexicans, and if we may credit the Spaniards who eat it, was agreeable and nouriilling food. After the conqueft of Mexico, the Spaniards having neither large cattle, nor il1eep, provided their markets with this quadruped; by which means the fpecies was foon extinCl:, although it had been very numerous. The 'l'lalmototli, or land-fquirrel, called by Buffon Svizz.ero, is like the real fquirrd in the eyes, in the tail, in fwiftnefs, and in all its movements ; but very different in colour, in iize, in its habitation, and fome of its qualities. The hair of its belly is quite white, and the reft of it is white mixed with grey. Its fize is double that 'of the fquirre1, and it does not dwell in trees, but in fi11all holes which it digs in the earth, or amongft the il:ones of ramparts which enclofe fields, where it does confiderable damage by the grain which it carries oft". It bites moil: furiouOy any one who approaches it, and cannot be tamed, but has great elegance of form, and is graceful in its movement. This fpecies is a very numerous one, particularly in the kingdom of Michuacan. The 'It?cballot/ is no way difterent from the preceding animal, except in having a finaller and lefs hairy tail. The Amy'.lot/i, or fea-lion, is an amphibious quadruped which inhabits the ihores of the Pacific Ocean, and fome rivers of that kingdom. Its body is three feet in length, its tail two, J ts fnou t is ' long I , . H I S T 0 R Y 0 F M E X I C 0. · 41 long, its legs ihort, the nails crooked. Its fkin is valuable on ac- BoOK I. count of the length and foftnefs of its· hair (i). '---v--' The Mapach of the Mexicans is, agreeable to the opinion of Buffon, the fame quadruped which is kno~n in Jamaica by the name of Ratton, rattoon, or Weft-Indian fox. The Mexican one is of the fize of a badger, with a black head, a long iliarp fi10ut like a greyhound, fmall ears, round body, hair mixed with black and white, a long and hairy tail, and five toes to every foot. It has a white ftreak over each eye, and like the fquirrel makes ufe of its paws to convey any thing to its mouth which it is going to eat. It feeds indifferent1y on grain, fruits, infeCts, lizards, and pullet's blood. It is eafily, tamed, and entertaining with its play, but perfidious like the fquirrel, and apt to bite its mafl:er. The .Danta, or Anta, or Beori, or Tapir, as it is differently named in different countries, is the largell: quadruped of the kingdom of Mexico ( k ), and approaches moil: to the fea-horfc, not however in fize, but in fome of its il1apes and qualities. The danta is about the fize of a middling mule. Its body is a little arched like that of a hog, its head grofs and long with an appendage to the ik.in of the upper lip, which it extends or contraCts at pleafure; its eyes are fmall, its ears little and round, its legs ihort, its fore feet have four nails, the hind feet three, its tail il10rt and pyramidical, its fkin pretty thick and covered with thick hair, which at an advanced age is brown; its fet of teeth, which are compofed of. twenty maxillary, and as many incifors, is fo !hong and il1arp, and it makes fuch terrible bites with them that it has been feen, according to the teftimony of Oviedo the hifl:orian, and an eye-witnefs, to tear off at one; bite two or three handbreadths of fkin from a hound, and at another a whole leg and thigh. Its fl eil1 is eatable (/), and its fkin valuable, from its being fo ftout as to refi1l: not only arrows, but even muiket-balls. (i) \Vc reckon the .1miztli among the quadrupeds which nrc common to other countries of America, as it appears to be ~he f.une animal which Huffon dcfcribes under the name of Sa-ricovicunc. · (A-) The Danta ia much lcfs than the Tlacaxolotl defcribcd by Hcrnaude1. ; but we do not know of this great quadrUJJCd CI'CI' having hecn in the kingdom of Mexico. 'rhc f:une may be faid of the Hags of New Mexico, :md of the Cibolle, or Bifonte, which arc alfo Inrgc1' than chc Danta. Sec our IV th Dilfcrtation • . (/) Ovi ·do fay s, that rhe legs of the ranta arc pretty good anJ relithing fooll 1 provided cltcy remain twenty-four hours continually at the fire. VoL. I. G This |