THE BAHAMA ISLANDS 375 



nearly as large as my body, eaten so nearly off that they would not sustain their 

 own weight. A sweet potato left on the shore was eaten up, while the body of 

 a bird, left to tempt them, was untouched. 



" When wounded it seldom made any attempt to defend itself, although in 

 one instance, when I put my foot on a wounded one, it tried to bite me. It 

 feeds mostly by night, although found occasionally foraging during the day. 

 I saw no indications of its burrowing, the numerous holes and crevices in the 

 rocks perhaps rendering this unnecessary. In its movements and shape when 

 running it reminded me very much of the Muskrat. It would run nearly as 

 fast as I could. I had to shoot most of the specimens I obtained, but I secured 

 a few, down in the palmettos, by chasing them and stamping on them, as they 

 ran under the palmetto leaves. It was not shy, as when it was away from the 

 rocks I could approach within twenty-five or thirty feet of it by moving 

 cautiously when it would take to the rocks. 



"I opened a number of the animals during my stay for the purpose of 

 securing a foetus for an alcoholic specimen, but failed to obtain any." 



After discussing the animal's affinities, Dr. Allen continues : 5 



" The present is by no means the first record of Capromys from the 

 Bahamas. Catesby's Cuniculus bahamensis is evidently one of the larger 

 species of the genus, but which one, or whether really from the Bahamas, is at 

 present beyond determination. Columbus, however, on his first voyage to the 

 West Indies, evidently found some form of the genus abundant at nearly all of 

 the several Bahama Islands he visited ; and Mr. C. B. Cory informs me that ' a 

 peculiar large rat, probably a Capromys,' is said to occur abundantly on the 

 island of Mariguana, a few miles to the eastward of PI ana Keys. Mr. Ingra- 

 ham, however, replying to my inquiries on this point, writes me that he spent 

 from the 22d of February to the 30th of March, 1891, at the island of Mari- 

 guana. He says : ' The island has a coast line of about seventy-five or eighty 

 miles, and I have walked nearly or quite half of this distance. I have been four 

 or five miles into the interior, and indeed there is not a part fifteen miles in 

 extent that I have not visited. I saw no signs of Capromys anywhere on the 

 island, nor did I hear of any such animal from the inhabitants, who, however, 

 repeatedly told me of the " Hootie " on the Plana Keys. Hence I may say 

 unhesitatingly that it is not found on the island of Mariguana. 



" Mr. Ingraham, who has visited a large number of the keys and islands of 

 the Bahama group, further informs me that he has never heard of the existence 



"Loc cit., pp. 335-336. 



