354 A YEAR IN BRAZIL. 



poyu, known in Brazil as tatu pe"ba. This Indian name/^&z ap- 

 parently comes from the numerous galleries which it burrows 

 rapidly under the soil. . . . Buffon names it encoubert (from Portu- 

 guese encoberto, or covered). Desmarest also terms it Dasypus 

 encoubert ; Linnaeus, D. sexcinctus. . . . This species is common in 

 Minas Geraes and the whole valley of Rio Sao Francisco. It is 

 not, however, the species most widely distributed in these regions. 

 It is also found throughout South Brazil and Paraguay. Its food 

 consists of fruits, tuberous roots, and insects. Its flesh is little 

 esteemed, and is very inferior to that of the tatu-ete". It runs 

 with moderate swiftness, and can be caught when hunted ; but it 

 burrows so rapidly and has so many galleries that it generally 

 disappears first. It is impossible to take it in its galleries ; they 

 are so multiplied and branched. It comes out by day and night, 

 but especially in the evening. In captivity, when it cannot dis- 

 appear into the earth, it flattens itself against the ground, so as to 

 be protected by its armour. 



" The remaining tatiis compose the genus Tatusia of F. Cuvier. 

 Therefore, among this class we place the commonest and most 

 widely spread tatu in Brazil, which is called in the Indian tongue 

 tatu-ete" (real tatu), for which name the Brazilians have substituted 

 the Portuguese equivalent by calling it tatu verdadeiro. 



" Tatu-ete of Buffon, Dasypus octocinctus of Linnaeus. Prince 

 Maximilian of Neuwied gave it the name of tatu with the long tail, 

 Tatu longicaudatus . ... It is found in all Brazil, as well as in the 

 Guianas and Paraguay. It is hunted for its flesh, which is of very 

 good quality ; and because of this peculiarity it is often called in 

 Brazil tatu veado (venison tatu), and more generally tatu gallinha 

 (chicken tatu), which latter name holds good for another species 

 still more delicate, the tatu mirim, whose white flesh resembles 

 that of a chicken entirely in taste and appearance. 



" The Dasypus uroceras of Lund was at length recognized by 

 that author as identical with the tatu-ete. 



" The food of the tatu-ete consists particularly of roots and 

 insects. In the plantations it especially attacks potatoes, sweet 

 mandioc, and even ordinary mandioc. It also eats sugar-cane, 

 maize, and fallen wild fruits. 



" This species is excessively abundant in the prairies. In the 



