BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN NATURAL HISTORY 
Marcgrav, Nieremberg and Jonston also 
copy Clusius’ somewhat fanciful repre- 
sentation of the three-toed sloth, called 
the Ignavus, Ai or Haut, and in Spanish 
the perallo ligero. 
The compendium of Oviedo, published 
in 1526, was followed in 1535 by his 
larger work, of which a modern reprint 
exists, entitled Historia general de las 
Indies. Another work having the same 
title, by Francisco Lopez Gomara, was 
first printed in 1553, and passed through 
several editions. Both these works, 
excellent in their way, contain much 
the 
aborigines, and animal and plant life of 
the southern continent and the West 
Indies. the 
known figure of the buffalo, or American 
bison, and Oviedo is the first author to 
represent the iguana and manatee. Un- 
der the native designation of “Anta,” 
two Patagonian animals appear to have 
been indicated by Gomara. One of them 
is pretty certainly the guanaco, and the 
other is conjecturally identified by M. 
valuable information concerning 
Gomara_ gives earliest 
Roulin, in his Mémoire sur le Tapir 
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353 
(1835), as the guemul or huemul deer. 
Concerning the guanaco, this creature 
was first seen by Magellan in 1519, in the 
vicinity of the straits that bear his name. 
The earliest mention of this animal, of 
the rhea, penguin and fur seal as ob- 
served in Patagonia, occurs in the narra- 
tive of Antonio Pigafetta,! who accom- 
panied the famous navigator on_ his 
voyage around the world. It was near 
the Straits of Magellan that the guemul 
deer was first seen by Captain Wallis. 
In early accounts this animal was con- 
fused with a supposed equine species, 
first scientifically described by Molina 
under the name of Equus bisulcus, and 
represented in the Chilean coat-of-arms 
1Tt is there mentioned that the Patagonians, 
whom the voyagers encountered at Port St. Julian, 
were clothed with the ‘‘Skinne of a Beast sewed 
together,’’ and that ‘‘This Beast (as it seemed 
unto us) had a large head, and great eares like 
unto a Mule, with the body of a Camell, and 
tayle of a Horse.’’ In the relation of Olivier van 
Noort’s voyage (1598), it is stated that at Port 
Desire they ‘‘found Beasts like Stagges and 
Buffals.’’ The first English navigator to take 
detailed notice of this ruminant appears to have 
been Wood, in the narrative of his Voyage through 
the Straights of Magellan (1670). 
SS 
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This gayly caparisoned creature is meant by Aldrovandi (1637) to represent the nine-banded arma- 
dillo. 
Enciso described it a century earlier, and Bélon and L’Escluse gave good figures 
