AGOUTI. FAMILY CHINCHILLID^. 



267 



nor digging to any depth ; and they commonly sit upon their 

 haunches, when at rest, holding their food between their fore- 

 paws, in the manner of Squirrels. They feed both upon the 

 green vegetation of the surface, and upon the roots which they 

 find a little below it ; and by destroying those of the sugar-cane, 

 they are often of great injury to the planters. It is said that, 

 when angry, the Agouti stamps with the fore-feet, grunts like a 

 young pig, and erects the bristly hair of the crupper in the 

 manner of a Porcupine. 



235. The family CHINCHILLID^E consists of a number of small 

 South American Rodents, which have been until recently only 

 known by the skins of some of them; these have been long highly 

 valued on account of their fur, and have been largely imported. 

 This is especially the case in regard to the Chinchilla, a 



FIG. 137 CHINCHILLA. 



native of the valleys in the high mountain districts, where the 

 cold is often very severe ; its fur is of a dense woolly character, 

 which, together with its fineness of texture, causes it to be highly 

 valued. Its colour is clear gray above, varying however in 

 depth, and passing into white on the under parts. The ancient 

 Peruvians are said to have made of this wool coverlets for 

 beds, and valuable stuffs ; but there is reason to believe that, on 

 account of the present extensive destruction of the species, it is 

 becoming more and more scarce. Of its habits in a state of 

 nature, little is known, save that it associates in numbers, and 

 excavates burrows in which it resides, feeding chiefly upon roots, 



