The Naturalist in La Plata | Page 6

domestic pied relation the guinea pig. It loves to
run on clean ground, and on the pampas makes little rat-roads all about
its hiding-place, which little roads tell a story to the fox, and such like;
therefore the little cavy's habits, and the habits of all cavies, I fancy, are
not so well suited to the humid grassy region as to other districts, with
sterile ground to run and play upon, and thickets in which to hide.
A more interesting animal is the Ctenomys magellanica, a little less
than the rat in size, with a shorter tail, pale grey fur, and red incisors. It
is called _tuco-tuco_ from its voice, and oculto from its habits; for it is
a dweller underground, and requires a loose, sandy soil in which, like
the mole, it may swim beneath the surface. Consequently the pampa,
with its heavy, moist mould, is not the tuco's proper place; nevertheless,
wherever there is a stretch of sandy soil, or a range of dunes, there it is
found living; not seen, but heard; for all day long and all night sounds
its voice, resonant and loud, like a succession of blows from a hammer;
as if a company of gnomes were toiling far down underfoot, beating on
their anvils, first with strong measured strokes, then with lighter and
faster, and with a swing and rhythm as if the little men were beating in
time to some rude chant unheard above the surface. How came these
isolated colonies of a species so subterranean in habits, and requiring a
sandy soil to move in, so far from their proper district--that sterile
country from which they are separated by wide, unsuitable areas? They
cannot perform long overland journeys like the rat. Perhaps the dunes
have travelled, carrying their little cattle with them.
Greatest among the carnivores are the two cat-monarchs of South
America, the jaguar and puma. Whatever may be their relative
positions elsewhere, on the pampas the puma is mightiest, being much

more abundant and better able to thrive than its spotted rival. Versatile
in its preying habits, its presence on the pampa is not surprising; but
probably only an extreme abundance of large mammalian prey, which
has not existed in recent times, could have, tempted an animal of the
river and forest-loving habits of the jaguar to colonize this cold, treeless,
and comparatively waterless desert. There are two other important cats.
The grass-cat, not unlike Felis catus in its robust form and dark colour,
but a larger, more powerful animal, inexpressibly savage in disposition.
The second, Felis geoffroyi, is a larger and more beautiful animal,
coloured like a leopard; it is called wood-cat, and, as the name would
seem to indicate, is an intruder from wooded districts north of the
pampas.
There are two canines: one is Azara's beautiful grey fox-like dog,
purely a fox in habits, and common everywhere. The other is far more
interesting and extremely rare; it is called _aguará,_ its nearest ally
being the _aguará-guazú,_ the Canis jubatus or maned wolf of
naturalists, found north of the pampean district. The aguará is smaller
and has no mane; it is like the dingo in size, but slimmer and with a
sharper nose, and lias a much brighter red colour. At night when
camping out I have heard its dismal screams, but the screamer was
sought in vain; while from the gauchos of the frontier I could only learn
that it is a harmless, shy, solitary animal, that ever flies to remoter
wilds from its destroyer, man. They offered me a skin--what more
could I want? Simple souls! it was no more to me than the skin of a
dead dog, with long, bright red hair. Those who love dead animals may
have them in any number by digging with a. spade in that vast
sepulchre of the pampas, where perished the hosts of antiquity. I love
the living that are above the earth; and how small a remnant they are in
South America we know, and now yearly becoming more precious as it
dwindles away.
The pestiferous skunk is universal; and there are two quaint-looking
weasels, intensely black in colour, and grey on the back and flat crown.
One, the Galictis barbara, is a large bold animal that hunts in
companies; and when these long-bodied creatures sit up erect, glaring
with beady eyes, grinning and chattering at the passer-by, they look

like little friars in black robes and grey cowls; but the expression on
their round faces is malignant and bloodthirsty beyond anything in
nature, and it would perhaps be more decent to liken them to devils
rather than to humans.
On the pampas there is, strictly speaking, only one ruminant, the
Cervus campestris, which is common. The most curious thing about
this animal is that the male