Mus xanthorhinus.
—— Magellanicus.
Reithrodon chinchilloïdes.
SECTION—HYSTRICINA.
FAMILY— ——?
MYOPOTAMUS COYPUS.
Myopotamus Coypus, _Auct._
“This animal, in Chile, is known by the name of “Coypu;” at Buenos
Ayres, where an extensive trade is carried on with their skins, they are
improperly called ‘nutrias,’ or otters. In Paraguay, according to Azara,
their Indian name is ‘guiya.’ On the east side of the continent they
range from Lat. 24° (Azara) to the Rio Chupat in 43° 20′;—distance of
1160 miles. This latter river is 170 miles south of the Rio Negro, and
the intervening space consists of level, extremely arid, and almost
desert plains, with no water, or at most one or two small wells. As the
Coypu is supposed never to leave the banks of the rivers, and being,
from its web-feet and general form of body, badly adapted for travelling
on land, its occurrence in this river is a case, like so many others in
the geographical distribution of animals, of very difficult explanation.
The same remark is indeed applicable, but with less force, to its
existence in the Rio Negro. On the west coast, it is found from the
valleys of central Chile (Lat. 33) to 48° S., or perhaps even somewhat
farther, but not in Tierra del Fuego. So that, on the Atlantic side of
the continent, the plains of Patagonia check its range southward, as, on
the Pacific side, the deserts of Chile do to the north. Its range,
including both sides, is from 24° to 48°, or 1440 miles. In the Chonos
Archipelago these animals, instead of inhabiting fresh water, live
exclusively in the bays and channels which extend between the
innumerable small islets of that group. They make their burrows within
the forest, a little way above the rocky beaches. I believe it is far
from being a common occurrence, that the same species of any animal
should haunt indifferently fresh water, and that of the open sea. We
shall see that the Capybara is sometimes found on the islands near the
mouth of the Plata; but these cannot be considered as their habitual
station in the same manner as the channels in the Chonos Archipelago are
to the Coypu. The inhabitants of Chiloe, who sometimes visit this
Archipelago for the purpose of fishing, state that these animals do not
live solely on vegetable matter, as is the case with those inhabiting
rivers, but that they sometimes eat shell-fish. The Coypu is said to be
a bold animal, and to fight fiercely with the dogs employed in chasing
it. Its flesh when cooked is white and good to eat. An old female
procured (January) amongst these islands, weighed between ten and eleven
pounds.” D.