309 
Biography of the Vizcacha. 
naturalist ; for it shows that the native dogs on the 
pampas have developed a very remarkable instinct, 
and one that might be perfected by artificial selec- 
tion ; but dogs with the hunting habits of the cat 
would, I think, be of little use to man. When it is 
required to train dogs to hunt the nocturnal arma- 
dillo (Dasypus villosus), then this deep-rooted (and, 
it might be added, hereditary) passion for vizcachas 
is excessively annoying, and it is often necessary to 
administer hundreds of blows and rebukes before a 
dog is induced to track an armadillo without leaving 
the scent every few moments to make futile grabs 
at his old enemies. 
The following instance will show how little sus- 
picion of man the vizcachas have. A few years ago 
1 went out shooting them on three consecutive 
evenings. I worked in a circle, constantly revisiting 
the same burrows, never going a greater distance 
from home than could be walked in four or five 
minutes. During the three evenings I shot sixty 
vizcachas dead ; and probably as many more escaped 
badly wounded into their burrows ; for they are 
hard to kill, and however badly wounded, if sitting 
near the burrow when struck, are almost certain to 
escape into it. But on the third evening I found 
them no wilder, and killed about as many as on the 
first. After this I gave up shooting them in dis- 
gust ; it was dull sport, and to exterminate or 
frighten them away with a gun seemed an im- 
possibility. 
It is a very unusual thing to eat the vizcacha, 
most people, and especially the gauchos, having a 
silly unaccountable prejudice against their flesh. I 
