Biography of the Vizcacha. 309 



naturalist ; for it shows that the native dogs on the 

 pampas have developed a very remarkable instinct, 

 and one that might be perfected by artificial selec- 

 tion ; but dogs with the hunting habits of the cat 

 would, I think, be of little use to man. When it is 

 required to train dogs to hunt the nocturnal arma- 

 dillo (Dasypus villosus), then this deep-rooted (and, 

 it might be added, hereditary) passion for vizcachas 

 is excessively annoying, and it is often necessary to 

 administer hundreds of blows and rebukes before a 

 dog is induced to track an armadillo without leaving 

 the scent every few moments to make futile grabs 

 at his old enemies. 



The following instance will show how little sus- 

 picion of man the vizcachas have. A few years ago 

 I went out shooting them on three consecutive 

 evenings. I worked in a circle, constantly revisiting 

 the same burrows, never going a greater distance 

 from home than could be walked in four or five 

 minutes. During the three evenings I shot sixty 

 vizcachas dead ; and probably as many more escaped 

 badly wounded into their burrows ; for they are 

 hard to kill, and however badly wounded, if sitting 

 near the burrow when struck, are almost certain to 

 escape into it. But on the third evening I found 

 them no wilder, and killed about as many as on the 

 first. After this I gave up shooting them in dis- 

 gust ; it was dull sport, and to exterminate or 

 frighten them away with a gun seemed an im- 

 possibility. 



It is a very unusual thing to eat the vizcacha, 

 most people, and especially the gauchos, having a 

 silly unaccountable prejudice against their flesh. I 



