Mr. W. S. MacLeay's Notes on Capromys, 275 



" where I shall have to treat of the animals of the Continent, there will 

 " be much more to write, as on the Costa firme there are many quadru- 

 " peds very different from those of Spain. As to this island (St. Do- 

 " mingo), all the old Christian emigrants agree that it has only five nsi- 

 " tive quadrupeds,* which are called Hutia, Quemi, Mohuy, Cori,\ 

 " and a small kind of terrier dog." 



Of the animal called Hutia.J 

 " There is in this island an animal called Hutla, which is a quadruped 

 " like a rabbit, but somewhat less, and with smaller ears, indeed its 

 *' ears and the tail are somewhat like those of a rat. They are killed 

 " with a small kind of native terrier dog, that the Indians domesticate, 

 " and which is mute ; but the sport is still better with the greyhounds 

 " and dogs that have lately been brought from Spain. These Hutias are 

 " of a grey mixed colour, as I have been informed by many persons 

 " who have both seen and eaten them, and who praise them much, as 

 " being excellent food. These animals begin already to get rare." 

 (Oviedo, Lib. XII, fol. 98.) 



Original Synonyms of the Hutia. 

 Capromys Fournieri, Desmarest, Mem. d'Hist. Nat. Vol. I, p. 43. 



Of the animal called Quemi.^ 



" There is another animal in this island, Hispanola, called Quemi, 



" which I have not yet seen, nor indeed at present is it to be found, but 



" according to many persons who have seen it, it is a quadruped as large 



" as a middling-sized houiid or beagle. It is of a grey colour, like the 



" Hutia, and exactly of the same form and proportions, only much 



" larger. Many persons in this island and city, who have both seen and 



" eaten them, approve of them much as food ; but the truth is, that, 



" according to what I have already said of the toils and privations which 



* Probably Oviedo did not consider Bats to be quadrupeds, 

 t The Cori is, without doubt, from the description of Oviedo, no other than 

 the Guinea-pig (Cavia Cohaya). 



X ^ot Hutias, as the careless compilers have made it, 



§ Not Chemi, as the negligent compilers have corrupted the name. 



