AGUARA DOG OF THE WOODS. 955 
us that this is the true chien des bois. Buffon's figure 
is; we think, that of a semi-domesticated specimen, 
obtained through the Indians, who imposed it upon 
the French colonists the more easily, because almost 
all the native dogs will eat shell-fish. * 
The chien des bois, or Aguara of the Woods, may 
be the Koupara of Barrere,t and the description of 
Buffon repeated by F. Cuvier and Desmarets is quite 
correct in the details, but wrong as to the general 
appearance of the animal, which is more like a cur 
than a shepherd’s dog. The length of head and 
body is two feet six inches, the tail one foot, height 
at the shoulder fourteen inches; the head rounded, 
the muzzle more blunt than in the former ; the ears 
short, erect, triangular, with a rufous fur at the 
back and spreading towards the neck, similar to 
those of the wild species: the colour more grey on 
the neck and yellowish white beneath; this colour 
spreads on the insides of the legs and thighs; that 
of the upper part of the head and back consists of a 
mixed black, fulvous, grey, and white hairs, most 
fulvous on the head and legs, and grey on the back ; 
the legs are slender and the feet small, both of a 
dark brown and reddish colour ; the tail, clothed with 
a close coat of hair without a brush, is brown on the 
* Prince Maximilian of Wied and Dr Rengger, who resided 
six years in Paraguay, do not appear to have met with it ; and 
we therefore conclude that the species does not extend to the 
southward of the line. 
+ Barrere is probably mistaken in the true application of 
this name, for in Brazil it refers to a feline and not to a dog. 
