Last Days in Argentina 



287 



North America, and could be purchased far more 

 cheaply in Pittsburgh, or even in New York. A friend 

 bent upon the same errand, who had the same thought, 

 informed me that all which he had succeeded in finding, 

 which in any sense might be regarded as characteristic 

 of the country, and therefore fit to be souvenirs of a 

 visit, were photo- 

 graphs, mate- 

 gourds, armadillo- 

 baskets, and jag- 

 uar-skins. He 

 had discovered a 



place where these ^ g - 28- Nine-banded Armadillo. nat. size. 



things were for sale, and he guided me to the spot. The 

 poor little armadillos, small successors of the huge 

 glyptodons and other allied beasts which formerly 

 tenanted the pampas, are being somewhat rapidly ex- 

 terminated, and are sold in the markets as food. There 

 is not much flesh on an armadillo. The favorite method 

 of cooking them is to stuff them with bread-crumbs 

 and roast them. The fat imparts a certain richness 



to the bread-crumbs, 

 but to eat roasted arm- 

 adillo is very much 

 like eating the stuffing 

 of a bony and fleshless 

 turkey without getting 

 any of the turkey. The 

 most curious use to 

 which these poor crea- 

 tures are put is to con- 

 Fig. 29. Armadillo Basket. V ert their carapaces 



into baskets. The mouth is opened and the end of the 

 tail is inserted into it, thus forming the handle of the 



