282 



great abundance of rabbits. The venado of 

 Cubagua belongs to one of those numerous 

 species of small American deer, which zoolo- 

 gists have long confounded under the vague 

 name of cervus mexicanus. It does not appear 

 to be the same as the hind of the savannahs of 

 Cayenne, or the guazuti of Paraguay *, which 

 live also in herds. It's color is a brownish red 

 on the back, and white under the belly ; and it 

 is spotted like the axis. In the plains of Cari, 

 we were shown, as a thing very rare in these 

 burning climates, a variety quite white. It was 

 a female of the size of the roebuck of Europe, 

 and of a very elegant shape. White varieties are 

 found in the New Continent even among the 

 tigers. Mr. d'Azara has seen a jaguar, the skin 

 of which was wholly white, except the shade 

 only, as it might be termed, of a few circular 

 spots. 



Of all the productions on the coasts of Araya, 

 that which the people consider as the most ex- 

 traordinary, we may even say the most marvel- 

 lous, is the stone of the eyes, piedra de los qjos. 

 This calcareous substance is the subject of every 

 conversation ; according to the natural philoso- 



* Pennant's "Quadrupeds, p. 119, n. 52. Azara, Essay on 

 the Quadrupeds of Paraguay, vol. i, p. 77. Cuvier on the 

 fossile ruminating Animals, in the Ann. du Musee, t. xii, 

 p. 365. 



