38 
MR.  E.  T.  BENNETT  ON  THE  CHINCHILLIDiE. 
In  the  year  1772,  the  celebrated  traveller  Antonio  de  UUoa  published  his  '  Noticias 
Americanas'\  which  contain  a  very  particular  account  of  the  little  animal  in  question. 
As  this  is  perhaps  the  best  history  that  has  been  given  of  its  habits  and  manners,  and 
as  the  book  itself  is  scarce  and  little  known,  I  have  here  translated  it  entire  from  the 
original  Spanish,  which,  as  in  other  cases,  I  subjoin  in  a  note  below^.  "Taking  the 
place  of  the  rabbit,  which  is  wanting  in  Peru,  there  is  another  kind  of  animal  called 
Viscacha,  which  is  not  found  in  Quito.  In  form  and  in  the  colour  of  its  fur  it  is  similar 
to  the  rabbit ;  but  differs  from  it  in  having  a  long  tail  furnished  with  tufted  hair  (like 
that  of  the  squirrels),  which  is  very  thin  towards  the  root,  but  thick  and  long  as  it 
approaches  the  tip.  It  does  not  carry  its  tail  turned  over  the  head  like  the  squirrels, 
but  stretched  out,  as  it  were,  in  a  horizontal  direction  :  its  joints  are  slender  and  scaly. 
These  animals  conceal  themselves  in  holes  of  the  rocks,  in  which  they  make  their  re- 
treats, not  forming  burrows  in  the  earth  like  rabbits.  Here  they  congregate  in  con- 
siderable numbers,  and  are  mostly  seen  in  a  sitting  posture,  but  not  eating  :  they  feed 
on  the  herbs  and  shrubs  that  grow  among  the  same  rocks,  and  are  very  active.  Their 
means  of  escape  do  not  consist  in  the  velocity  of  their  flight,  but  in  the  promptitude 
with  which  they  run  to  the  shelter  of  their  holes.  This  they  commonly  do  when 
wounded,  for  which  reason  the  mode  of  killing  them  is  by  shooting  them  in  the  head, 
as  if  they  receive  the  charge  in  any  other  part,  although  much  injured,  they  do  not  fail 
to  go  and  die  in  the  interior  of  their  burrows.  They  have  this  peculiarity,  that  as  soon  as 
they  die  their  hair  falls  off ;  and  on  this  account,  although  it  is  softer  and  somewhat 
longer  and  finer  than  that  of  the  rabbit,  the  skin  cannot  be  made  use  of  for  common 
purposes.  The  flesh  is  white,  but  not  w^ell- flavoured ;  being  especially  distasteful  at 
certain  seasons,  when  it  is  altogether  repugnant  to  the  palate." 
The  Journal  de  Physique  for  1779^,  contains  numerous  translated  extracts  from  an 
anonymous  Italian  work  on  the  Natural  History  of  Chili,  sometimes  attributed  to  the 
1  Madrid,  1772. 
^  "  En  correspondiencia  de  los  Conejos  que  faltan  en  el  Peru  hay  otra  casta  de  animales,  que  llaman  Viscachas, 
de  que  el  reyno  de  Quito  carece  enteramente :  son  en  la  figura  y  en  el  color  del  pelo  lo  mismo  que  el  Conejo, 
y  se  diferiencian  de  el  en  que  tienen  rabo  largo,  poblado  de  pelo  esponjoso,  al  modo  de  las  Ardillas :  acia  el 
nascimiento  es  muy  ralo,  y  acia  la  punta  espeso  y  largo :  no  lo  trahen  buelto  acia  la  cabeza  como  la  Ardilla, 
sino  tendido  quasi  orizontalmente :  las  articulaciones  so  menudas  y  escamosas.  Se  esconden  en  los  agugeros 
de  las  penas,  y  en  ellos  tienen  sus  madrigueras,  no  haciendolas  en  la  tierra  como  los  Conejos :  alii  estan  juntas 
muchas,  y  lo  mas  del  tempo  se  les  ve  sentadas  sin  comer :  se  alimentan  de  las  yerbecillas,  y  de  los  arbustos  que 
se  crian  entre  las  mismas  penas :  son  de  mucha  viveza ;  su  escapada  no  la  tienen  en  la  carrera,  sino  en  la 
prontitud  di  buscar  la  concabidad,  y  meterse  en  ella :  de  ordinario  lo  executan  quando  se  sienten  heridas,  y  por 
esto  el  modo  de  matarlas  es  tirandolas  a  la  cabeza,  pues  aunque  reciban  el  golpe  en  otra  parte,  y  les  hagan 
mucho  dano,  no  dexan  de  ir  a  morir  a  lo  interior  de  la  madriguera.  Tienen  la  particularidad  de  que  luego  que 
mueren  se  les  cae  el  pelo,  y  por  esta  razon,  aunque  es  mas  suave,  y  algo  mas  largo  y  fino  que  el  del  Conejo,  no 
se  pueden  aprovechar  sus  pieles  para  los  usos  communes.  La  came  es  blanca,  pero  no  de  buen  gusto,  por  ser 
fastidiosa,  con  particularidad  en  ciertos  tiempos,  en  los  que  del  todo  repugna."  p.  130-1. 
•'  Vol.  xiv.  p.  478-9. 
