WOLF, OR LOBO. 351 



scribed in most of the works on mammology as the wolf of 

 Brazil. 



" It is, however, the least carnivorous of all known dogs, and 

 the food it prefers consists of vegetable substances. . . . The 

 name of Aguara, given by the Indians to this animal, imitates its 

 cry, which consists of three loud successive and distinct notes, 

 which nearly represent the syllables ' a-gua-ra,' and resemble the 

 bark of a dog. ... In the province of Minas Geraes, where this 

 animal is common, Aguara has become Guara ; but, owing to the 

 disappearance of the indigenous race, the Portuguese name of 

 ' lobo ' is generally substituted. The suppression of the initial 

 a is further noticeable in Brazil, not only in this word, but in many 

 other Indian names of animals, as the Aperca, Acuti, etc., now 

 become Prea, Cutia (or coati), etc., probably owing to the habits 

 of abbreviation in use by other tribes in Brazil.* 



" The cry of the Guara is heard at an enormous distance; and, 

 in the fine moonlight nights, when this animal prowls over the 

 prairies, it is not rare to hear the three strong intonations of its 

 bark. It is rarer to see the animals themselves, as they carefully 

 avoid man, and hide in the bushes ; they do not even attack 

 children ; the smallest dog puts them to flight by its bark. . . . 

 The Guara hunts small mammals and the prairie gallinaceae, but 

 prefers large insects to these, sometimes even serpents. It 

 especially feeds on the bark of trees and fruits, and particularly 

 favours the fruit of the Solatium lycocarpum, called by the natives 

 fruta de lobo (wolf-fruit)." This tree is very abundant on the 

 extensive bare prairies, and often attains the size of a large apple- 

 tree. It is most handsome, and very conspicuous. The flowers, 

 which are often over an inch across, are of a beautiful purple, 

 with bright orange centre. The leaves are large and glaucous, 

 and the fruit is some six inches in diameter, of a fine sea-green 

 colour. On cutting it asunder, the fruit smells very similar to an 



* I often experienced considerable difficulty in understanding the natives, 

 even when I was tolerably au fait with the language, owing to the habit of 

 cutting off final syllables, omitting prefixes, and indistinct pronunciation gene- 

 rally. It is somewhat similar to the Lancashire dialect, where "The nearest 

 way is over the stile on the right," was once explained to me as, " T'next 

 way 's o'er t' steel on t' reet." 



