2i8 To the River Plato and Back 



fed, and four on the hind feet, joined by a web fitting them 

 for swimming, while at the same time they are armed with 

 formidable claws. The body is covered with short, harsh, 

 and stiff hair, uniformly bay in color. In size, I am told, 

 the animal is larger than the puma, with shorter legs, and 

 a much thicker body. 



The result of these publications by Ameghino was 

 amusing. The minds of the curious were inflamed. 

 The reputed existence in life of a relative of the extinct 

 Megatherium naturally attracted wide attention. To 

 find such an animal in Patagonia seemed as remarkable 

 as it might have been to have found a living mammoth 

 straying about in Alaska or the Lena Delta in Siberia. 



The subject was "nuts" for the reporters of the news- 

 papers in Buenos Aires. These gentlemen are quite 

 as wide-aw r ake and active as their brethren in New York 

 and London. Hardly a day passed without reference 

 to the theme. The fact that "our distinguished fellow- 

 citizen, the eminent scientist,' etc., had declared for 

 the actual existence of the beast was enough in the 

 minds of the scribes to put the whole question beyond 

 controversy. With screaming headlines it was from 

 time to time announced that various persons had found 

 and followed the tracks of the " mammifero misterioso, ' 

 but unfortunately without reaching its lair. Among 

 those reported in the papers as having trailed the 

 Yemisch was Lord Cavendish, who w^as taking an outing 

 in Patagonia, and his adventures w-ere retailed with 

 particularity, although the gentleman afterwards was 

 greatly amazed upon his return to civilization to dis- 

 cover w r hat had been w r ritten and printed about occur- 

 rences of which he had no knowledge or recollection. 

 The excitement was not confined to Argentina. Hardly 

 a newspaper, or scientific journal in the world, failed 



