430 



water hog, given to the chiguire by some of the 

 older naturalists. The missionary monks do 

 not hesitate to eat these hams during Lent. 

 According to their zoological classification, they 

 place the armadillo, the thick-nosed tapir, and 

 the manatee, near the tortoises ; the first, be- 

 cause it is covered with a hard armour, like 

 a sort of shell ; and the others because they 

 are amphibious. The chiguires are found in 

 such numbers on the banks of the rivers Santo 

 Domingo, Apure, and Arauca, in the marshes 

 and the inundated savannahs * of the Llanos, 

 that the pasturages suffer from them. They 

 browze the grass which fattens the horses best, 

 and which bears the name of chiguirero, u chi- 

 guire grass." They feed also upon fish ; and we 

 saw with surprise, that, affrighted by the approach 

 of a boat, the animal in diving remains eight or 

 ten minutes under water. 



We passed the night as usual, in the open air, 

 though in a plantation,the proprietor of which em- 

 ployed himself in hunting tigers. He was almost 

 naked, and of a dark brown complexion like a 

 Zambo. This did not prevent his thinking him- 

 self of the cast of Whites. He called his wife 

 and his daughter, who were as naked as himself, 

 donna Isabella, and donna Manuela. Without 



* Near Uritucu, in the Cano del Ravanal, we saw a drove 

 of 80 or 100 of these animals. 



