As rabbits are extremely numerous in every part of this country, there is likewise great variety amongst them. Some, of various colours, like those of our country, live under ground. Others, which hide themselves under shrubs and bushes, are less than hares, larger than our rabbits, and of a bay, or rather a chesnut colour. Their flesh, which is extremely well tasted, may be seen at the tables even of the more wealthy. Several pairs of these rabbits are said to have been brought from Spain by some person who, in travelling through Paraguay into Peru, took rabbits of each sex out of their coop, and set them loose on the plain to feed, at which time some of them escaped and ran away. Their posterity is, at this day, extremely numerous in Tucuman, especially in the land of St. Iago. Other kinds of rabbits, scarce bigger than dormice, conceal themselves sometimes in the hedges of fields, sometimes in holes under ground, and, being innumerable, are extremely pernicious to wheat. The Abipones, who undertake most of their journeys without provisions, when they wish to dine or sup, set fire to the tall dry grass in the plain, in order to kill and roast the animals concealed underneath it, which leap out for fear of the fire. Were tigers, deer, stags, and emus, not to be had, there would never be a deficiency of rabbits, a hundred of which they easily take, and hang upon a string, after a chase of this kind. I was told by Barreda, the old General of the St. Iagans, that in hasty marches in search of the enemy, when there was no time for hunting, rabbits, dried in the air, served the Abipones for victuals.
THE STAG.
The shores of the Parana and Paraguay, and the larger islands of these rivers, abound in stags, which, in no respect, differ from those of Europe. Not one is to be seen in any other part of Paraguay. The Abipones pursue the stags on swift horses, and laying hold of their horns, kill them either with a knife or a spear; they also pierce them with thick arrows, when hunting in a wood impervious to horses. Formerly, before the savages were acquainted with iron, they prefixed a stag's horn to their spears, instead of an iron point, and this weapon inflicted very deep wounds. Whilst I dwelt amongst them, some of the elder Abipones still used spears pointed with stags' horn, and were the more dreaded on that account. Stags' skins, which are used for various purposes, the Spaniards soften and polish with the melted fat of mares. They also entertain an idea that the smallest piece of stag's skin, worn close to the body, is a powerful preservative against the bites of serpents, as it is well known that stags and deer have frequent conflicts with these animals.
ROEBUCKS.
On entering the plain, wherever you turn your eyes you will see nothing but roebucks, exactly like European ones. Those which inhabit the plains are of a chesnut colour, but brighter; those which live in the woods, of a darker chesnut, but both are marked with white spots. When young they are easily tamed at home. I once nourished a little fawn, only a few days old, brought me by an Indian, on cow's milk, and reared it in my own apartment. When grown older, it went daily into the plain to pasture along with the cows, which are milked in the court-yard, but returned to my room of its own accord. When he found it shut he signified his arrival by knocking against the door with his feet, often in the middle of the night. He followed me, whether walking or riding, like a dog. He beheld a crowd of dogs running after him without alarm, and often put them to flight by stamping on the ground with his feet. By tinkling a collar of bells which I placed round his neck, he frightened all the dogs, and deceived them into thinking him some strange and formidable animal. He fed upon meat, bread, roots, and grass, but a sheet of paper was quite a treat to him, and sweeter than honey to his taste. The collar, which many months before I had fitted to his neck, beginning to squeeze him as he grew older, I endeavoured to loosen it; when the little animal, imagining that I did it with the intent of causing his death, and believing me to be his enemy, took to flight, and wandered up and down the more distant plains, without revisiting me for a month. He was often seen by the Indians. At length I directed my attention towards recalling and reconciling him. Allured by a sheet of paper, which I showed him from a distance, he approached me, though with a trembling foot, and being presented at intervals with fresh sheets of paper, followed me to the house, unmindful of his terror and offence, and ever after remained, as long as he lived, with the utmost fidelity in my house. He would often fight with mules for half an hour together, affording a spectacle worthy to be seen and applauded by the assembled Indians; for resting on his fore-feet, he kicked the head of the mule every now and then with his hinder ones, and whilst his antagonist with bites and kicks endeavoured to render like for like, the fawn, by leaping backwards and forwards with incredible celerity, eluded the threats and anger of the enraged beast. After obtaining so many victories, to the astonishment and applause of the whole town, engaging in the plain with an untamed mule, his back was broken by the kicks of his adversary, which occasioned his death, at two years of age, when, being a male, he had very large horns. You will scarce believe how we grieved for his death. I still have in my possession a music-book bound with his skin.
THE YKIPARÀ.
The ykiparà, a species of mole lurking in holes under ground, makes a horrid noise, like the sound of a great drum beat at a distance, which is scarce heard without alarm by strangers. I cannot describe the appearance of this little animal, never having seen, though frequently heard it. I imagine that its voice must sound the louder from being re-echoed by the hollow corners and windings of the earth.
DIFFERENT KINDS OF APES.
Were I individually to describe the names, forms, and properties of all the apes which inhabit the North of Paraguay, this subject alone would fill a volume. Those called caraya are the most numerous and the ugliest species. Their hair is tawny, they are full of melancholy, always querulous, always morose, always snappish. As they howl incessantly day and night no one chooses to take them home and tame them. They sit by crowds on trees, and wander about in search of food. When they howl with most pertinacity it is a sign of rain or storms; the sound they utter resembles the creaking of waggons with ungreased wheels, and as hundreds howl in concert, may be heard many leagues off. They are of a middle size.