58 



MALDONADO. 



1832-3. 



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 dis- 

 tance 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 in- 

 different. I have never heard of the carpincho being found 

 south of the Plata ; but as I see in a map that there is a 

 Laguna del Carpincho high up the Rio Salado, I suppose 

 such must have occurred. On the islands in the Rio Parana 

 they are exceedingly abundant, and afford the ordinary prey 

 to the Jaguar. 



The Tucutuco {Ctenomys Braziliensis) is a curious small 

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

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

 the country,* but is difficult to be procured, and still more 

 difficult to be seen, when at liberty. It lives almost en- 

 tirely under ground, and prefers a sandy soil with a gentle 

 inclination. The burrows are said not to be deep, but of 

 great length. They are seldom open ; the earth being 

 thrown up at the mouth into hillocks, not quite so large as 

 those made by the mole. 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 



* The wide plains north of the Rio Colorado are undermined by these 

 animals ; and near the Strait of Magellan, where Patagonia blends with 

 Tierra del Fiiego, the whole sandy country forms a great warren for the 

 tucutuco. 



