52 MALDONADO chap. 



they reassume the appearance of their congeners, cavies and 

 rabbits. Both the front and side view of their head has quite 

 a ludicrous aspect, from the great depth of their jaw. These 

 animals, at Maldonado, were very tame ; by cautiously walking, 

 I approached within three yards of four old ones. This tame- 

 ness may probably be accounted for, by the Jaguar having been 

 banished for some years, and by the Gaucho not thinking it 

 worth his while to hunt them. As I approached nearer and 

 nearer they frequently made their peculiar noise, which is a 

 low abrupt grunt, not having much actual sound, but rather 

 arising from the sudden expulsion of air : the only noise I know 

 at all like it, is the first hoarse bark of a large dog. Having 

 watched the four from almost within arm's length (and they me) 

 for several minutes, they rushed into the water at full gallop 

 with the greatest impetuosity, and emitted at the same time 

 their bark. After diving a short distance they came again to 

 the surface, but only just showed the upper part of their heads. 

 When the female is swimming in the water, and has young ones, 

 they are said to sit on her back. These animals are easily killed 

 in numbers ; but their skins are of trifling value, and the meat 

 is very indifferent On the islands in the Rio Parana they are 

 exceedingly abundant, and afford the ordinary prey to the 

 Jaguar. 



The Tucutuco (Ctenomys Brasiliensis) is a curious small 

 animal, which may be briefly described as a Gnawer, with the 

 habits of a mole. It is extremely numerous in some parts of 

 the country, but is difficult to be procured, and never, I believe, 

 comes out of the ground. It throws up at the mouth of its 

 burrows hillocks of earth like those of the mole, but smaller. 

 Considerable tracts of country are so completely undermined 

 by these animals that horses, in passing over, sink above their 

 fetlocks. The tucutucos appear, to a certain degree, to be 

 gregarious : the man who procured the specimens for me had 

 caught six together, and he said this was a common occurrence. 

 They are nocturnal in their habits ; and their principal food is the 

 roots of plants, which are the object of their extensive and 

 superficial burrows. This animal is universally known by a 

 very peculiar noise which it makes when beneath the ground. 

 A person, the first time he hears it, is much surprised ; for it is 

 not easy to tell whence it comes, nor is it possible to guess what 



