1832-3. 



MALDONADO. 



57 



mice alone I obtained no less than eight kinds.* The largest 

 gnawing animal in the worlds the Hi/droclmrtis Capyhara 

 (the water-hog)^ is here also common. One which I shot at 

 Monte Video weighed ninety-eight pounds : its lengthy from 

 the end of the snout to the stump-like tail^ was three feet 

 two inches ; and its girth^ three feet eight. These great 

 Rodents are generally called " carpinchos they occasion- 

 ally frequent the islands in the mouth of the Plata^ where 

 the water is quite salt^ but are far more abundant on the 

 borders of fresh-water lakes and rivers. Near Maldonado 

 three or four generally live together. In the daytime they 

 either lie among the aquatic plants^ or openly feed on the 

 turf plain. t When viewed at a distance, from their manner 

 of walking and colour, they resemble pigs : but when seated 

 on their haunches, and attentively watching any object with 

 one eye, they reassurae the appearance of their congeners, 

 the cavies. 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 tameness 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, 



* These have been named and described by Mr. Waterhouse at the 

 meetings of the Zoological Society. I must be allowed to take this op- 

 portunity of returning my cordial thanks to Mr. Waterhouse, and to the 

 other gentlemen attached to that Society, for their kind and most liberal 

 assistance on all occasions. 



t In the stomach and duodenum of a carpincho which I opened, I 

 found a very large quantity of a thin yellowish fluid, in which scarcely a 

 fibre could be distinguished. Mr. Owen informs me that a part of the 

 oesophagus is so constructed, that nothing much larger than a crowquill 

 can be passed down. Certainly the broad teeth and strong jaws of this 

 animal are well fitted to grind into pulp the aquatic plants on which it 

 feeds. 



