The Desert Pampas. 15 
is a larger and more beautiful animal, coloured like 
a leopard ; it is called wood-cat, and, as the name 
would seem to indicate, is an intruder from wooded 
districts north of the pampas. 
There are two canines: one is Azara’s beautiful 
grey fox-like dog, purely a fox in habits, and 
common everywhere. . The other is far more 
interesting and extremely rare; it is called aguara, 
its nearest ally being the aguard-quazti, the Canis 
jubatus or maned wolf of naturalists, found 
north of the pampean district. The aguara is 
smaller and has no mane; it is hke the dingo in 
size, but slimmer and with a sharper nose, and has 
a much brighter red colour. At night when camp- 
ing out I have heard its dismal screams, but the 
screamer was sought in vain; while from the 
gauchos of the frontier I could only learn that it is 
a harmless, shy, solitary animal, that ever flies to 
remoter wilds from its destroyer, man. They offered 
me a skin—what more could [ want? Simple 
souls! it was no more to me than the skin of a 
dead dog, with long, bright red hair. Those who 
love dead animals may have them in any number by 
digging with a spade in that vast sepulchre of the 
pampas, where perished the hosts of antiquity. I 
love the living that are above the earth; and how 
small a remnant they are in South America we 
know, and now yearly becoming more precious as 
it dwindles away. 
The pestiferous skunk is universal; and there 
are two quaint-looking weasels, intensely black in 
colour, and grey on the back and flat crown. One, 
the Galictis barbara, is a large bold animal that 
