152 N A R R A T I V E O F A N 



CHAP, coffee ill his hammock, while he kept the troops ftanding- 



XXII 



^ ' . round it in water above their middle, a whole hour be- 

 fore day-light, we again fcrambled forward, keeping our 

 courfe, firft W. and afterwards N. W. when the road 

 was fo exceffively bad, that many ilaves let fall their 

 burdens, breaking, wetting, and fpoiling every thing that 

 was in them. At laft, having pafled through a fecond 

 deferted camp, we halted on the old cordon, or path of 

 communication on which I formerly difcovered the track 

 of the rebels, when I commanded in Cottica river; and 

 here, having ere^fted flight flieds, we paflld the night— 

 I {till a prifoner. 



At this time a fmall quadruped running through the 

 camp with incredible fwiftnefs, it was cut down by one 

 of the rangers with his fabre. This proved to be the 

 Paca or Spotted Cavey, called in Surinam the Aquatic 

 Hare. This animal is the fize of a fucking pig, and ex- 

 tremely fat. The under jaw is fhort, the noftrils large, 

 the eyes black, and the ears fmall and naked. It has 

 five toes on each foot, a tail like the firft joint of a man's 

 thumb, and whillvcrs like a cat; the colour is an earthen 

 brown, Vv'ith longitudinal rows of buff-coloured fpots; the 

 belly is a dirty white, the hair all over coarfe and fliort. 

 The Paca is an amphibious animal. On land it digs uj> 

 the earth like a hog in queft of food, and when in danger 

 flies to the water for its fafety ; notwithftanding this 

 animal is fo very plump and heavy, it runs fwifter than 

 Bioft other animals of its fize in South America, con- 

 trary to the account given of it in the fupplement to 



the 



