68 CRUSOE'S ISLAND. 



Finding that something was devouring the tubers 

 I had planted in the garden, I watched awhile and 

 soon discovered the enemy in a squad of agoutis, 

 small, harelike animals of a golden-brown color. 

 Setting my ingenuity to match theirs, the result was 

 that three sleek, slender " 'goutis " became my prison- 

 ers. They were mild of disposition, quickly became 

 reconciled to captivity, and expected me to caress them 

 every time I approached their cage. They have some- 

 what the habit of rabbits, are perpetually sniffing the 

 air with their sensitive nostrils, feed upon tender leaves 

 and vegetables, are shy and nervous, but affectionate 

 and responsive. 



I do not like to see wild animals captive, and would 

 have let them go if it had not been for the damage 

 they would have done my garden ; but they seemed 

 to enjoy their imprisonment, and I made all amends 

 possible by giving them choice things to eat and roomy 

 quarters. 



In the first three months of my stay I had gath- 

 ered about me these agoutis, the coon, the parrots, a 

 tame trogon, and other friends among the smaller 

 tribes. Mocking birds and doves lived constantly 

 about my door, and a flock of terns, or sea swallows, 

 made the river basin their rendezvous, fluttering above 

 and around me when at work on the beach, and walk- 

 ing about unconcernedly at all times. 



I cultivated the best of relations with my feathered 

 friends, never doing anything to disturb them, and con- 

 stantly having them in mind, especially when I had 

 something they liked to eat, or for the building of 



