1832. 



FOSSILS— ANIMALS. 



107 



bones, described in his work ; and notwithstanding our smiles 

 at the cargoes of apparent rubbish which he frequently 

 brought on board, he and his servant used their pick-axes in 

 earnest, and brought away what have since proved to be most 

 interesting and valuable remains of extinct animals. 



The soldiers appointed to watch our movements soon relaxed 

 so far as to spend nearly all their time in hunting animals for 

 us. Besides those already mentioned, they one day brought a 

 fine living puma, in hopes I should offer a good price, and 

 embark it alive; but having no wish for so troublesome a 

 companion in our crowded little vessel, I only bargained for 

 its skin. The soldiers made a hearty meal of the flesh, and 

 asserted that it was good, though inferior to that of a horse, 

 which I had seen them eating a day or two previously. 



Four kinds of armadilloes were described to us by these 

 men, of which we saw but tw^o : the quiriquincha, with nine 

 bands ; the mataca-bola, which rolls up into a ball ; the pelu- 

 do, which is large and hairy ; and the molito, of which I heard 

 only the name. Mr. Rowlett saw a black fox, and he was 

 told that there are wolves in the neighbourhood. Two small bur- 

 rowing animals are also found : the zorillo, or skunk ; and the 

 tucu-tucu. While speaking of animals, I should say that the 

 commandant (Rodriguez) told me, that he had once seen, in 

 Paraguay, a ' gran bestia,"* not many months old, but which 

 then stood about four feet high. It was very fierce, and secured 

 by a chain. Its shape resembled that of a hog, but it had 

 talons on its feet instead of hoofs ; the snout was like a hog's, 

 but much longer. When half-grown, he was told that it would 

 be capable of seizing and carrying away a horse or a bullock. 

 I concluded that he must have seen a tapir or anta ; yet as he 

 persisted in asserting that the animal he saw was a beast of 

 prey,* and that it was extremely rare,* I here repeat what he 

 said. (See extract from Falkner. — Appendix — No. 11.) 



Abundance — I may well say shoals of fish were caught by 

 our men, whenever we hauled the nets at a proper time (the 

 beginning of the flood-tide) ; and as they were chiefly un- 

 * Neither of which remarks apply to the Anta. 



