Page:Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay (1870).djvu/425



TO THE TEBICUAUY RIVER. 395

wild dog, fancifully described by the ancieuts as half wolf, half bear, is uo longer common. Ounces (jaguars) are numerous as in the sporting grounds of the Brazil : they live in the islands, and dine upon the capinehos. I in- quired about the black ounce, a rare variety, which seems to correspond with the black leopard of the Niger. The jaguar-ete-hun is very uncommon and expensive in the Brazil; during my three years of residence I saw only one skin — black, like a cat's, with red spots perceptible only in the light : it was said to have been brought from Northern Paraguay. In these parts the people ignore it, and the only Englishman who could tell me anything about it was Mr. Bichard Hughes, of Paysandii. The albino ounce is as uncommon as its negro brother. Chin- chilla rats are said to be found here, but, as in the Banda Oriental, the skins are not valuable : they are well developed only in the frigid regions. Very common, however, is the opossum (didelphus), the gamba of the Brazil and the comadrija of the Plate, known to the Guaranis as micure : it is a deadly enemy to poultry. The viscacha (lagostomus visaccia) is unknown : it has never crossed the Paraguay river, whilst the Pampas, to the west, are riddled by it. Several times I saw the nutria (otter), a term also applied to the seal and to the sea-lion (otis) : it is probably of two species, large and small, like the cuiya (Intra Brasiliensis). The mataco (or tatu) peludo (Euphractus) and mnlita, various species of armadillos, abound ; some are eaten, the others are rejected as menschen-fresser.

We heard in the woods the nnmistakeable roar of the guariba, here called caraja (Stentor ursinus, or simia belze- buth) ; but the mud and water, combined with the cortadera or long razor-grass, and the bushy flowered aguararuguai or " fox-taiy prevented our getting within shot. The other two common simiadse are the red-furred bujus, the bugios of