CHAPTER VIL 
THE MEPHITIC SKUNK. 
It might possibly give the reader some faint con- 
ception of the odious character of this creature (for 
adjectives are weak to describe it) when I say that, 
in talking to strangers from abroad, I have never 
thought it necessary to speak of sunstroke, jaguars, 
or the assassin’s knife, but have never omitted to 
warn them of the skunk, minutely describing its 
habits and personal appearance. 
T knew an Hneghshman who, on taking a first 
gallop across the pampas, saw one, and, quickly 
dismounting, hurled himself bodily on to it to effect 
its capture. Poor man! he did not know that the 
little animal is never unwilling to be caught. Men 
have been blinded for ever by a discharge of the 
fiery liquid full in their faces. On a mucous mem- 
brane it burns like sulphuric acid, say the unfortu- 
nates who have had the experience. How does 
nature protect the skunk itself from the injurious 
effects of its potent fluid? I have not unfrequently 
found individuals stone-blind, sometimes moving 
so briskly about that the blindness must have been 
of long standing—very possibly in some cases an 
accidental drop discharged by the animal itself has 
caused the loss of sight. When coming to close 
