The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-12-09

In the wilderness 10 roams about by day because
the cats Of the desert prosecute 1t most at night.
Near the settlements. where. by the way. IL
thrives best u Is abroad a. night because man
persecutes II in tho day. Slow moving, as It
seems 10 be when the traveller secs II at sunset,
IL overtakes the serpents OF tho region In = fair
race and kills them by squattlng on them and
saving It's body to and fro so that the edges OF
its protective she'll cut the snake TO pieces. 1t
captures mice by sneaklnR on them cat-fashlon
and throwing its body over them like a trap.
IL grubs for worms; ~ robs nests OF eggs
and hedglings. Now, although It eats n great
many things that are r%epulsivc to civilized tastes,
the armadillo is itself a most delicious article OF
food for any human taste. civilized or Unclvil-
lied. Tho variety in It's bill Of fare seems but to
add dclicacy TO its flesh. In my journeys as n
reporter OF THE SuS I have eaten nearly every
kind Of FISH. flesh, and fowl served between
Ivigtut, Greenland, and Cshuain, TERRA del
Fuego, but found nothing quite so much to my
taste as nm armadillo baked in the cinbcrs Of IN
outdoor fire on tho desert of Patagonia. Nor
was my judgment In the matter influenced by
hunger. for my nrst arinadlllo was served uncx-
~pectedly after a plentiful repast OF good beof
roasted on a spit.
All travellers familiar with tho desert regions
OF the United States nrc Mt once struck on
reaching Patagonia with the remarkable SINH
lhTltl DcLWecn lue TWO COunlfle9. III IS n Dlty,
therefore, that some philanthropist or society
could not exchange a few of the North Amerl-
can jack-rabbits for an equn, number Of the
hairy nrmadillo, In order that each country
could participate in the food supplies OF tho
other. Probably the shepherds of Patagonia
will not like this suggestion, because the spread
Of the rabbits would interfere with the increase
Of their flocks. Patagonia has now no rabbits.
But no one could object TO the transplanting
OF armadillos to the prairies and deserts
OF the United States. They prefer ami
NAL food; they are good scavengers. They
do no harm to crops, but on the contrary aid
materially In destroying insects and other crop
enemies. Indeed they are so valuable in this
respect that the Agricultural Department, which
imported bugs OF one kind to destroy others that
were running California orange growers, might
well take this matter into consideration.
Although Patagonia has no rabbits. it has an
animal that Is of the size of a jack-rabbit, but
rather more of a deer. in spite OF its size, than
anything else familiar to North Americans, so
the gauchos soy. r learned but little about 1t,
save that II is gray and white In color. does not
breed so rapidly as rabbits, and is very good eat
ing. / did not see even the skin of one. and l
believe they are confined to the northern and
western parts of the desert.
But space Is lacking even for brief reference to
the other animals, such as the guinea pig and
the great mole called tuco-tuso, that Is said to
swim through the loose soil in places. and not
even to mention the rest. There is one thing. how
ever, about the majority of all the desert animals
that must strike the traveller as the most re-
marknble thing in nature. The big guanacos,
the tiny rodent, half n dozen different kinds Of
mammals, besides birds, all live without water.
] do not know this to be true, OF course, but every
plainsman with whom l talked said 1t was so. The
panther, of course. finds a substitute in the blood
he drinks. but there are others that do not have
even a liquid food. They live on flesh or on the
herbs that are never noticeable for having any
Juices in them. Still, the matter is not without
a parallel In the United States. for the prairie
dogs. the rabbits, and the reptiles Of such regions
as the Panhandle of Texas and the Colorado
Desert live in like fashion.
On the whole Patagonia, as said. is one OF the
parts Of the world for the hardy lover Of nature
to see when he goes a-travelling. The zoology is,
indeed, about as scant, numerically, as the flora;
but here, as in all other things, there is a uni
versal law of compensation. Whatever may DO
lacking in the count of kinds is more than made
up in the interesting characteristics of those to
be found there. JON r. SPEARS.