Chloromys Patachonicus, _Lesson_, Manuel de Mammalogie, p. 301.
Lièvre Pampa, _Azara_, Essais sur l’Histoire Naturelle des Quad. de la
Province du Paraguay. French Translation, vol. ii. p. 51.
In the form of the cranium, and in the structure of the teeth, this
animal possesses all the characters of the Cavies (_Caviidæ_).[43]
Habitat, Patagonia.
“This animal is found only where the country has rather a desert
character. It is a common feature in the landscape of Patagonia, to see
in the distance two or three of these Cavies hopping one after another
in a straight line over the gravelly plains, thinly clothed by a few
thorny bushes and a withered herbage. Near the coast of the Atlantic,
the northern limit of this species is formed by the Sierra Tapalguen, in
latitude 37° 30′, where the plains rather suddenly become greener and
more humid. The limit certainly depends on this change, since near
Mendoza, (33° 30′.) four degrees further northward, where the country is
very sterile, this animal again occurs. Azara erroneously supposed that
its northern range was only 35°.[44] It is not clear on what
circumstances its limit southward between Ports Desire and St. Julian
(about 48° 30′.) depends; for there is in that part no change in the
features of the country. It is, moreover, a singular circumstance, that
although the Cavy was not seen at Port St. Julian during our voyage, yet
Capt. Wood, in 1670, speaks of them as being numerous there. What cause
can have altered, in a wide, uninhabited, and rarely visited country,
the range of an animal like this?
“Azara states,[45] that the Cavy never excavates its own burrow, but
uses that of the Bizcacha. Wherever this animal is present, without
doubt this is true; but on the sandy plains of Bahia Blanca, where the
Bizcacha is not found, the Spaniards maintain that the Cavy is its own
workman. The same thing occurs with the little owls of the Pampas
(_Noctua cunicularia_), which have been described by travellers as
standing like sentinels at the mouths of almost every burrow; for in
Banda Oriental, owing to the absence of the Bizcacha, these birds are
obliged to hollow out their own habitations. Azara says, also, that this
Cavy, except when pressed by danger, does not enter its burrow; on this
point I must again differ from that high authority. At Bahia Blanca I
have repeatedly seen two or three of these animals sitting on their
haunches by the mouths of their holes, which they quietly entered as I
passed by at a distance. Daily, in the neighbourhood of these spots, the
Cavies were abundant: but differently from most burrowing animals, they
wander, commonly two or three together, to miles or leagues from their
home; nor do I know whether they return at night. The Cavy feeds and
roams about by day; is shy and watchful; seldom squats after the manner
of a hare; cannot run very fast, and, therefore, is frequently caught by
a couple of dogs, even of mixed breed. Its manner of running more
resembles that of a rabbit than of a hare. The Cavy generally produces
two young ones at a birth, which are brought forth within the burrow.
The flesh, when cooked, is very white; it is, however, rather tasteless
and dry. Full grown animals weigh between twenty and twenty-six
pounds.”—D.
HYDROCHŒRUS CAPYBARA.
Hydrochœrus Capybara, _Auct._
“These animals are common wherever there are large rivers or lakes, over
that part of the South American Continent which lies between the Orinoco
and the Plata, a distance of nearly 1400 miles. They are not generally
supposed to extend south of the Plata; but as there is a Laguna
Carpincho (the latter being the provincial name of the Capybara) high up
the Salado, I presume they have sometimes been seen there. Azara does
not believe they ever frequent salt water; but I shot one in the Bay of
Monte Video; and several were seen by the officers of the Beagle on the
Island of Guritti, off Maldonado, where the water is very nearly as salt
as in the sea. The one I shot, at Monte Video, was an old female; it
measured from tip of snout to end of stump-like tail, 3 feet 8½ inches,
and in girth 3 feet 2 inches. She weighed 98 pounds. I opened the
stomachs of a couple, which I killed near a lake at Maldonado, and found
them distended with a thin yellowish green fluid, in which not more than
a trace of a vegetable fibre could be distinguished: it is in accordance
with this fact, that a part of the œsophagus is so narrow, as I am
informed by Mr. Owen, that scarcely anything larger than a crow-quill
can be passed down it. The shape of the dung of these animals is a short
straight cylinder, rounded at the extremities; when dried and burnt, it
affords a pleasant smell like that from cedar wood. These animals do not
burrow holes, but live amongst the thickets, or beds of rushes near
rivers and lakes. At Maldonado they often may be seen during the day,
seated on the grassy plain in small groups of three and four, at the
distance of a few yards from the border of the lake, which they
frequent. I must refer the reader for a few more details respecting
their habits, to my Journal of Researches.—D.”