KERODOKS. 149 



is however eaten by the native tribes of Paraguay, who 

 sometimes capture it by hundreds when, driven from the 

 lowlands by sudden inundations, it retreats for safety to 

 the adjacent hilly grounds, where it finds neither shelter 

 nor concealment. 



Of the genus Kerodon we may notice the Rock Ke- 

 rodon {Kerodon moco, F. Cuv. ; Cavia rupestris, Pr. 

 Max.). It is a native of the rocky mountain districts in 

 the interior of Brazil, It is less than the aperea, and 

 its fur is very thick and short. The colour is gray 

 mixed with black, and reddish- brown above, the under 

 parts being white. A second species, King's Kerodon 

 (Kerodon Kingii), was introduced to science by the late 

 Mr. Bennett. It was found by Captain King at Port 

 Desire, on the eastern coast of Patagonia. In size it is 

 less than the aperea, being about nine inches long. Its 

 colour is more uniform than that of the rocky kerodon, 

 and of a deeper tint ; a slight dash of white is perceptible 

 behind each ear, and a line of the same tint marks the 

 edge of each branch of the lower jaw. Mr. Darwin 

 states that this kerodon " is common at intervals along 

 the coast of Patagonia, from the Rio Negro (lat. 41°) to 

 the Straits of Magellan. It is very tame, and commonly 

 feeds by day. It is said to bring forth two young ones 

 at a birth. At the Rio Negro it frequents in great 

 numbers the bottom of old hedges. At Port Desire it 

 lives beneath the ruins of the old Spanish Buildings. 

 At the Strait of Magellan I have seen amongst the Pata- 

 gonian Indians cloaks for small children made with the 

 skins of this little animal. And the Jesuit Falkner says 

 that the people of one of the southern tribes take their 

 name from the number of these animals which inhabit 

 their country. The Spaniards and half-civilizedlndians 

 call the kerodon * conejos,' or rabbit, and thus has the 

 mistake arisen that rabbits are found in the neighbourhood 

 of the Straits of Magellan." 



