. The naturalist in La Plata . utthe whole of the pampas; but in a country wherethe wisdom of a Sir William Harcourt was neverneeded to slip the leash, this king of the Rodentiais now nearly extinct. A common rodent is the coypii—Myiopotamuscoypii—a brown animal with bright red incisors ; arat in shape, and as large as an otter. It is aquatic,lives in holes in the banks, and where there are nobanks it makes a platform nest among the an evening they are all out swimming and play-ing in the water, conversing together in their strangetones, which sound like the moans and cries of 12 The
. The naturalist in La Plata . utthe whole of the pampas; but in a country wherethe wisdom of a Sir William Harcourt was neverneeded to slip the leash, this king of the Rodentiais now nearly extinct. A common rodent is the coypii—Myiopotamuscoypii—a brown animal with bright red incisors ; arat in shape, and as large as an otter. It is aquatic,lives in holes in the banks, and where there are nobanks it makes a platform nest among the an evening they are all out swimming and play-ing in the water, conversing together in their strangetones, which sound like the moans and cries of 12 The Naturalist in La Plata. wounded and suffering men ; and among them themother-coypii is seen with her progeny, numberingeight or nine, with as many on her back as she canaccommodate, while the others swim after her, cryingfor a ride. With reference to this animal, which, as we Laveseen, is prolific, a strange thing once happened inBuenos Ayres. The coypu was much more abun-dant fifty years ago than now, and its skiu, which. Coypu. has a fine fur under the long coarse hair, was largelyexported to Europe. About that time the DictatorRosas issued a decree which made the killing of acoypu a criminal offence. The result was that theanimals increased and multiplied exceedingly, and,abandoning their aquatic habits, they became ter-restrial and migratory, and swarmed everywhere insearch of food. Suddenly a mysterious malady fellon them, from which they quickly perished, andbecame almost extinct. The Desert Pampas. 13 What a blessed thing it would be for poor rabbit-worried Australia if a similar plague should visitthat country, and fall on the right animal! Onthe other hand, what a calamity if the infection,wide-spread, incurable, and swift as the wind in itscourse, should attack the too-numerous sheep !And who knows what mysterious, unheard-of retri-butions that revengeful deity Nature may not bemeditating in her secret heart for the loss of herwild four-footed children slain by s
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