Mr. W. S. MacLeay's Notes on Capromys. 271 



my residence in this island, I have seen and killed many Hutias, I can 

 venture to assert that not one word of it is true, for the Hutia is not 

 hunted by night, and still less at any time is it hunted by the light of 

 an insect. Instead of giving credit to a compiler like Bomare, M. Des- 

 marest ought to have laid more •stress on the quotation he gives from the 

 Italian translation, in Ramusio's collection, of Oviedo*s work, where it is 

 said that the Hutia is hunted by little dogs, which M. Desmarest makes 

 goitreux, upon what authority I know not. Oviedo, who particularly 

 describes these dogs of the Aboriginal Indians, and which like their 

 masters are now probably extinct, says nothing of their being goitreux. 

 Their most remarkable characteristic in his eyes was their being quite 

 silent and never barking. The native West Indian dog seems indeed to 

 have been a distinct species.* As for Desmarest' s description goitreux, I 

 suppose it has had its origin in the Spanish word " gozques" which is 

 the name that Oviedo applies to them. 



It may he worth while to enquire how the wonderful story of the 

 Hutias being hunted at night by the light of beetles has arisen ; for this 

 purpose I shall cite a passage from the learned work of Jean de Laet, 

 published in Leyden, in 1640, and entitled " Histoire du Jfouveau 

 ** Monde.''* Speaking of Hispanola or the island of Hayti, he says, 

 " Tout ce bestail y a este amene d'Espagne, car auparavant I'lsle ne 

 " nourissoit que fort peu d'especes d'animaux a quatre pieds; comme 

 " le Hutias, petite beste, peu dissemblable de nos Connils mais un 

 " peu plus petite et qui a les oreilles plus courtes avec une queue 

 " de taupe ; apres le Chemi presque de la meme forme mais un peu 

 " plus grand ; et le Mohuy petite beste un peu plus petite que 

 ** le Hutias ; et le Cori pareil en grandeur aux Connils, ayant la gueule 

 " comme une taupe, sans queue, les jambes courtes et grandement 

 " delicat; ils sont par fois blancs, aucune fois noirs et le plus souvent 

 " messes des deux; c'est un animal domestique et grandement prive; 

 " ils avoyent en outre une sorte de Chiens assez bons mais du tout 

 " muets desquels ils se servoyent a la chasse; il y a pour le jourd 'buy 

 " fort peu de ceux animaux veu I'accroissement qu'y ont fait ceux qu*on 



* Columbus found that the inhabitants of the south side of Cuba were in 

 the habit of fattening these dumb dogs as an article of food. 



t2 



