252 



flat ; the fore (ect have four toef?, ihc hinder 

 five. The deg'u is a social animal^ and is found 

 in the viciiii'y of St. Jago^ in numerous compa- 

 nies, near the hedges or bushes, where they d'u^ 

 burrows that have a communication with each 

 other, and feed upon roots and fruit, of which 

 thej lay in an ample store for the winter. It 

 does not, like the dormouse and the badger, sleep 

 during the winter, vvliich is probably in a great 

 measure owing to the mildness of the climate. 

 These animals were formerly eaten by the inha- 

 bitants, but at present they make no use of them 

 whatever. 



The covur, known to naturalists by the name 

 of tatoii, and by the Spaniards called the arma- 

 dillo, from the upper part of its body being co- 

 vered with a kind of bony armour, is very com- 

 mon in Cujo, where it is called quiriquinchu. It 

 is of various sizes, being from six to thirteen 

 inches lor^g, a magnitude, however, much infe- 

 rior to v/hat it attains iu (he tropical regions. In 

 its cxtfMT.al appcaran'e, its fatness, and the 

 bristles which cover the lower part of the body, 

 the cov:;r r( scmblcs the guinea-pig. Its licad is 

 long, hut the nnso is short ; it has no tccih except 

 grii.d; is ; the eyes are smal!, tlic ears naked, and 

 tlio tail is long and scaly like that of a rat. Tiie 

 n;-:r;bcr of the toes vary according to the species. 

 The bony armour which covers the body of tlio 

 qniciiii io coniposed of two parts, divided into 



