FLESH FOOD FROM MAMMALS. 81 



(Dasypus villosus), of the River Plate, is one of the most 

 exquisite meats that can be eaten. 



" Possessed of a most overpowering and unpleasant 

 smell of musk, the taurec (Centetes ecaudatus) is not an 

 animal which would be supposed to furnish an agreeable 

 article of diet to any one, except to a starving man in 

 the last extremity of hunger. Yet the natives of Mada- 

 gascar esteem it among their rarest luxuries, and are so 

 tenacious of this very powerful food, that they can 

 hardly be induced to part with a specimen which they 

 have captured, and which they have already dedicated 

 in anticipation to the composition of some wonderful 

 specimen of the cook's art."* 



They hybemate from June to December, and as they 

 are very fat when they first burrow, they are regarded 

 as delicacies in Madagascar and Reunion, and pursued 

 with great avidity. 



* Rouiledge's " Natural History." 



