NO. 5 MAMMALS FROM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC MILLER I3 



ferred to Solenodon; at least, such persons whom I met as knew of 

 an animal called hutia expatiated on the great length and pointedness 

 of the creature's snout. The very few who were acquainted with 

 Plagiodontia hylccum happened to be English speaking descendants 

 of negroes from the United States. They always spoke of the animal 

 as the " muskrat," and they told me that many of these creatures 

 had been killed by the workmen who cleared the narrow San Lorenzo 

 Peninsula for cocoanut planting 20 or more years ago. 



THE QUEMI 



The quemi resembled the hutia in color and general appearance, 

 but was much larger, its size equaling that of a medium-sized hound. 

 Oviedo did not see it himself, and he believed it to be extinct. How- 

 ever, he assures his readers that: "There are many persons in this 

 island and in this city who have seen and eaten these animals and 

 who declare that they were good food ; but in truth, according to 

 what has been said and known about the hardships and deprivations 

 that the first colonists endured in this island it can be presumed that 

 everything that could be eaten must have then appeared to them 

 very good and delicious, even when it was not." 



The qualifications of an animal resembling the hutia, good to eat, 

 and as big as an ordinary hound seemed to me to be fulfilled by the 

 large rodent whose remains I found in the caves near St. Michel, 

 Haiti, in 1925. Consequently I proposed for it the generic name 

 Qiicmisia. The presence of the same creature in the Boca del Infierno 

 kitchenmidden appears to confirm my guess. 



THE MOHUY 



" The mohuy is an animal somewhat smaller than the hutia : its 

 color is paler and likewise gray. This was the food most valued and 

 esteemed by the caciques and chiefs of this island ; and the character 

 of the animal was much like the hutia except that the hair was denser 

 and coarser (or more stiff), and very pointed and standing erect or 

 straight above. I have not seen this animal, but there are many who 

 declared it to be as aforesaid ; and in this island there are many persons 

 who have seen it and eaten it, and who praise this meat as better 

 than all the others we have spoken about." 



There can be little, if any doubt that the animal Oviedo thus de- 

 scribed was Brotomys voratus. This rodent was smaller than either 

 Plagiodontia hylmim or Isolohodon lev-ir, and its remains have been 

 found in everv kitchenmidden that has been examined in the Domini- 



