460 Natural Hhtory in foreign Coufilries ' — 



ents were menaced. This apparition takes place only at night- 

 fall or daybreak, on the edges of the forest, which the spectral 

 quadruped enters with a great noise. It does not show itself 

 in all places ; but commonly on the Paramo de Polindara, a 

 high mountain, two leagues from the volcano of Purace, and! 

 eight from Popayan. 



Upon this subject, the reports of the Indians are consistent 

 in all respects, except the size of the animal; for, whilst 

 the most moderate affirm that the pinchaque only equals the 

 horse in magnitude, others maintain that its height is ex- 

 ceissive. Some of the inhabitant of Popayan are persuaded 

 thdt there really exists in this mountain a very large qua- 

 druped ; and one learned mart pronounced it to be a carnivo- 

 roii's elephant,' by which n^ine is designated the Mlstodon 

 with narrow teeth, the osseous remains of which are found in 

 many places in New Granada. The hunters, guided by the 

 Indians, have long sought in vain for this mysterious quadru- 

 ped; but,' although they have hitherto been baffled in theii** 

 endeavours to obtain a sight of it, they obtained the niosi 

 unequivocal proofs of its existence, by discovering footsteps 

 in the loose earth 9 or 10 in. wide, and balls of dung of a very 

 large size. M. Roulin, however, upon examining one of the 

 latter, upon the Paramo near Bagota, pronounced it to be that 

 of the tapir, from its containing the undigested remains of the 

 usual food of that animal. One hunter met with a still more 

 apparently conclusive evidence, not only of the presence of 

 the pinchaque on the Paramo de Polindara, but of its gigantic 

 height; having observed a tuft of long brownish hair upon a 

 branch from 8 to 10 ft. above the ground, which it is sup- 

 posed to have rubbed off" in passing under the tree. It is stijl 

 far from impossible that this may have also belonged to a 

 tapir, or perhaps to a bear ( LTrsus ornatus F, Cuvier). 



It was, however, in the province of Mariquita that our 

 author was led more especially to seek for the living repre- 

 sentative of the half" fabulous pinchaque; and he pursued his 

 enquiries with the greater hope of success, as many of the 

 ancient Spanish chroniclers, particularly Oviedo and P. de 

 Agueda, have mentioned the existence of a tapir of a brownish 

 black colour, and furnished with thick hair, which has been 

 considered as an erroneous description. The accounts of these 

 old writers was, however, confirmed by the modern natives, 

 particularly the Cargueros, who inhabit the valley of Cauca, 

 &c., at the foot of the Paramo de Quindiu : these people in- 

 forming the traveller that a large species of tapir, answering 

 to the description of Oviedo, inhabited the forests which skirt 

 the eastern declivities of the Cordilleras in the province of 



