ULLOa's voyage to south AMERICA. 34^ 



kind of fcaly lizard ; ardillas, or fquirrels, and many others ; befides innumerable 

 kinds of monkies living in the woods, fome remarkable for their fize, others for their 

 colour. The artifice generally obferved by the fox, in defending itfelf againfl dogs or 

 other animals, by whom it is purfued, by voiding its urine on its own tail and fprink- 

 ling it on them, effedually here anfwers the intention ; the fmell of it being fo ftrong 

 and fetid, that it throws the dogs into diforder, and thus the fox efcapes. The flench 

 of this urine is fo great, that it may be fmelt a quarter of a league from the place ; and 

 very often for half an hour after. The fox here is not much bigger than a large cat ; 

 but delicately fliaped ; has a very fine coat, and of a cinnamon colour ; but no large 

 bruih on its tail. The hair, however, is fpungy, and forms a bunch proper for the 

 above-mentioned method of defence. 



Nature, which has furnifhed the fox with fuch an effedual defence, has not forgot 

 the armadillo, the name of which partly defcribes it. The fize of it is about that of a 

 common rabbit, though of a very different fhape ; the fnout, legs, and tail, refembling 

 thofe of a pig. His whole body is covered with a flrong fhell, which, anfwering ex- 

 aO:ly every where to the irregularities of its flrudure, proteds it from the infults of 

 other animals, without affeding its adivity. Befides this, he has another, as a helmet, 

 connected by a joint to the former j this guards his head, and thus he is every way 

 fafe. 



Thefe fhells are variegated with feveral natural relievos, as it were, in chiaro ofcuro, 

 fo that they are at once his defence, and a beautiful ornament. The Negroes and 

 Indians, who eat its flefh, give a high character of it. / 



Among the monkies of this country, the mofl common are the micos, which are 

 alfo the fmalleft. They are generally about the fize of a cat, of a brownifh colour ; 

 sttid too well known to need any further defcription. The larger kind, which are lefs 

 known, I fhall defcribe in another place. 



The birds feen in this hot climate are fo numerous, that it is impofTible to give a dif- 

 tin6l reprefentation of them ; particularly of the beauty and brilliancy of their various 

 plumage. The cries and croakings of fome, mixed with the warblings of others, dif- 

 turb the pleafure which would flow from the melody of the latter, and render it impof- 

 fible to diflinguifh the different cries of the former ; and yet in this inflance we may 

 obferve the wifdom of Nature in diftributing her favours ; the plumage of thofe birds 

 being the moll beautiful, whofe croakings are the mofl offenfive ; vv4iile, on the other 

 hand, thofe whofe appearance has nothing remarkable, excel in the fweetnefs of their 

 notes. This is particularly evident in the guacamayo, the beauty and luflre of whofe 

 colours are abfolutely inimitable by painting ; and yet there is not a more fhrill and dif- 

 agreeaBle found than the noife it makes : this is in a great meafure common to all other 

 birds, whofe bills are hard and crooked, and their tongue thicker than ufual, as the 

 parrots, the cotorras, and the periquitos. All thefe birds fly in troops, fo that the air 

 often founds with their cries. 



But of all the fingularities among the feathered race, nothing is more remarkable than 

 the bill of the tulcan, or preacher. This bird is about the fize of a common pigeon, 

 but its legs much larger ; its tail is fhort, and its plumage of a dark colour, but fpotted 

 with blue, purple, yellow, and other colours ; which have a beautiful efFe£l on the 

 dark ground. Its head is beyond all proportion to its body, but otherwife he would 

 not be able to fupport his bill, which, from the root to the point, is at leafl fix or eight 

 inches, and the upper mandilDle has, at its root, a bafe of at leafl: an inch and a half, 

 of a triangular figure, whofe apex is at the point of the bill. The two lateral fuper- 

 ficies form a kind of elevation on the upper part ; and the third receives the lower man.. 



VOL. XIV. y y dible, 



