VARIEGATED HARE. 179 



The forenoon passed without any other occurrence 

 worthy of notice. The incessant attacks of mos- 

 quitoes, the first that have punished me this season, 

 were the only source of excitement, too irritating to 

 be agreeable. In the afternoon, I long watched an 

 otter pursuing his avocation. Without leaving the 

 pool on which he was engaged, he must have cap- 

 tured, in the course of an hour, half-a-dozen fish. 

 Fastidious in taste, and lavish of the good things 

 which were so abundant around him, he selected a 

 piece out of the shoulder of his prey ; the remainder 

 of the carcass being permitted to float down the 

 current, or become corrupt on the surface of the 

 rock where it was landed. I appropriated for my 

 own use a beautiful specimen of the silver cat-fish, 

 not being too proud to sup upon the leavings of the 

 dainty marauder. Being anxious for an early start, 

 we both soon turned in, and were compensated for 

 our discomforts of the previous evening by a sound, 

 refreshing sleep. 



While preparing our morning repast, my com- 

 panion went to look at some snares he had set the 

 previous day, and in one of them found a fine speci- 

 men of the variegated hare. This animal is most 

 abundant throughout this region, and from its fre- 

 quenting open ground would afford capital sport for 

 greyhounds. Although preyed upon by numerous 

 birds and quadrupeds, they so rapidly reproduce, 

 that with no more serious drawbacks to their exist- 

 ence, they never can become scarce. 



