1833.] THE BIZCACHA. 89 



September 2?>th. We passed the small town of Luxan, where there 

 is a wooden bridge over the river a most unusual convenience in 

 this country. We passed also Areco. The plains appeared level, but 

 were not so in fact ; for in various places the horizon was distant. 

 The estancias are here wide apart ; for there is little good pasture, 

 owing to the land being covered by beds either of an acrid clover, 

 or of the great thistle. The latter, well known from the animated 

 description given by Sir F. Head, were at this time of the year two- 

 thirds grown ; in some parts they were as high as the horse's back, 

 but in others they had not yet sprung up, and the ground was bare 

 and dusty as on a turnpike-road. The clumps were of the most 

 brilliant green, and they made a pleasing miniature-likeness of broken 

 forest land. When the thistles are full-grown, the great beds are 

 impenetrable, except by a few tracks, as intricate as those in a laby- 

 rinth. These are only known to the robbers, who at this season 

 inhabit them, and sally forth at night to rob and cut throats with 

 impunity. Upon asking at a house whether robbers were numerous, 

 I was answered, " The thistles are not up yet ; " the meaning of which 

 reply was not at first very obvious. There is little interest in passing 

 over these tracts, for they are inhabited by few animals or birds, 

 excepting the bizcacha and its friend the little owl. 



The bizcacha * is well known to form a prominent feature in the 

 zoology of the Pampas. It is found as far south as the Rio Negro, 

 in lat. 41, but not beyond. It cannot, like the agouti, subsist on the 

 gravelly and desert plains of Patagonia, but prefers a clayey or sandy 

 soil, which produces a different and more abundant vegetation. Near 

 Mendoza, at the foot of the Cordillera, it occurs in close neighbourhood 

 with the allied alpine species. It is a very curious circumstance in its 

 geographical distribution, that it has never been seen, fortunately for 

 the inhabitants of Banda Oriental, to the eastward of the river Uru- 

 guay: yet in this province there are plains which appear admirably 

 adapted to its habits. The Uruguay has formed an insuperable 

 obstacle to its migration ; although the broader barrier of the Parana 

 has been passed, and the bizcacha is common in Entre Rios, the 

 province between these two great rivers. Near Buenos Ayres these 

 animals are exceedingly common. Their most favourite resort appears 

 to be those parts of the plain which during one half of the year are 

 covered with giant thistles, to the exclusion of other plants. The 

 Gauchos affirm that it lives on roots ; which, from the great strength 

 of its gnawing teeth, and the kind of places frequented by it, seems 

 probable. In the evening the bizcachas come out in numbers, and 

 quietly sit at the mouths of their burrows on their haunches. At such 

 times they are very tame, an** 2 man on horseback passing by seems 

 only to present an object for their grave contemplation. They run 



* The bizcacha (Lagostomus trichodactylus), somewhat resembles a large 

 rabbit, but with bigger gnawing teeth and a long tail : it has, however, only 

 three toes behind, like the agouti. During the last three or four years the 

 skins of these animals have been sent to England for the sake pf the fur. 



