130 SKETCH OF THK HISTORY OF MAMMALIA. 



they pour buckets of water into the subterranean retreats 

 of the creatures, which to avoid being drowned issue 

 forth into the plain, where, without any means of escape, 

 they are killed with sticks. Their flesh, unless they are 

 very old, is not considered despicable even by the 

 Spaniards." In 1789 the Abbe Jolis wrote a work, which, 

 however, appears not to have been completed, entitled 

 ' An Essay on the Natural History of Granchaco ' 

 (Saggio sulla Storia Naturale della Provincia del Gran- 

 chaco), and in this he gives, from long observation, a de- 

 scription of the Pampas biscacha, whicii diffiers in some 

 particulars from that of Dobrizhoffer. " They resemble," 

 he says, " our hares, but have the body somewhat more 

 arched. They live in society, in burrows underground, 

 which they form for themselves, excavating in all direc- 

 tions to the extent of a mile in circumference, with various 

 exits and separate retreats, in which the old live distinct 

 from the young. The soil in which these are usually 

 made is that which is hard and barren, and destitute of 

 everything, but with bushes (boscaglie) at no great dis- 

 tance, and pasture of tender grass, roots, and the bark of 

 trees. They collect around their retreats bones, dried 

 leaves, and whatever they find in the neighbourhood ; if 

 anything is missing in their districts, it is to be found 

 with certainty piled up in these situations the following 

 day. As they are animals that avoid the light, having 

 little power of vision, they are not to be seen in the 

 daytime, unless at dawn, or towards evening after sunset. 

 The night, and especially when the moon shines, is the 

 proper time for seeking their ibod. Fierce and coura- 

 geous, they defend themselves with all their might against 

 the dogs, and sometimes even attack the legs of the 

 hunters." 



But neither of those authors mentions the somewhat 

 anomalous companions with which the biscachas are as- 

 sociated ; and we select, from the travels of Proctor, 

 Head, Miers, and Haigh, the account of the first-named 

 traveller, which, as Mr. Bennett observes, gives nearly 

 all the particulars which are to be found in the rest. 

 " The whole country from Buenos Ay res to San Luis de 



