SUPPLEMENT
BESIDES our former remark that the akouchi was a different species from the agouti from having a tail, the difference in size may also be added, in support of this opinion, as the former does not exceed the size of a young rabbit. The akouchi confines itself solely to large forests; he feeds upon fruits, and has the same natural habits as the agouti. He is called by the name of agouti in the islands of Grenada and St. Lucia. His flesh is very white, of a good flavour, and he is reckoned among the choicest game of South America; when pursued they will suffer the dogs to take them rather than attempt their escape by taking to the water. According to M. de la Borde they have but one or two young at a time, but this I doubt. They are very easily tamed, and sometimes, though very seldom, make a cry somewhat like a Guinea pig.
I have been assured by Messrs. Aublet and Oliver, that in Cayenne the hare is called agouti, and the rabbit akouchi, and that the former is the best food; and they farther add, that the flesh of the armadillos, except the nine-banded, is still better; that the paca is esteemed the best game next to the armadillo, and after them are ranked the agouti and akouchi; and these gentlemen also assert, that the inhabitants of this country eat the red cougar, and that its flesh nearly resembles veal.
FERNANDES gives the name of Tucan to an animal of New Spain, whose natural habits approach nearer to that of the mole than to any other animal. It appears to me to be the same animal as that described by Seba, by the name of the American red mole; at least the descriptions given by these two authors agree sufficiently to admit such a presumption. The tucan is perhaps a little larger than our mole; like that it is flat and fleshy, and has such short legs, that its belly touches the ground. The tail is short, its ears small and round; and its eyes so very small, that they are, in a manner of speaking, useless. But it differs from the mole in the colour of its hair, which is of a reddish yellow; and by the number of toes, having only three to the fore-feet, and four to those behind, whereas the mole has five toes on each foot. It seems still farther to differ from the mole by its flesh being good to eat; and in not having the same instinct of recovering its retreat when it is once come out, but each time is obliged to burrow a fresh hole: so that in certain soils, which agree with these animals, the holes made by them are so very numerous, and so near each other, that great precaution is necessary to walk in safety.