Part 13

These little animals can only live in excessive hot climates; they are so exceedingly delicate that it is with the greatest difficulty they are transported into Europe alive, where they perish in a short time. They are gentle, familiar, and very beautiful. They are, unquestionably, the smallest of all cloven-footed animals. According to this character of being cloven footed, they should not bring forth many young; but if we reason from their small size they should produce several at a litter. As to the fact on this point we must wait until opportunity is procured to make the observation; we are inclined to think they bring forth but one or two at a time, like the gazelles, roe-bucks, &c. but possibly they produce more frequently, for they are exceedingly numerous in India, Java, Ceylon, Senegal, Congo, and in every other country that is excessively hot, but are not to be found in America, nor in any of the temperate climates of the old continent.

_Engraved for Barr's Buffon_

THE MAZAMES.

Mazame, in the Mexican language, was the name of the stag, or rather a generic name, including the whole race of stags, fallow-deer, and roe-bucks. Hernandes, Recchi, and Fernandes, who have transmitted this name to us, distinguish two species of mazames, both common in Mexico and New Spain. The first and largest, to which they give the simple name of _mazame_, has horns like those of the roe-buck of Europe, that is, about six or seven inches in length, with the extremities divided into two points, and a single antler. The second, called _temamaçame_, is much less, and has but a single horn, and without any antlers. These two animals seem to be roe-bucks, the first being the same species as the European roe-buck, and the second only a variety of it. It also appears, that these mazames and temamaçames of Mexico are the same as the _cuguacu-apara_, and the _cuguacu-été_ of Brasil, and that in Cayenne the first is called _cariacou_, (_fig. 157._) or the forest hind; the second, _the small cariacou_, or _the hind of the marshes_. Though we are the first who have pointed out these relations, yet we should not have presumed that there were either difficulties or doubts on this subject, if Seba had not mentioned the mazame and the temamaçame as two different animals: they are not roe-bucks with solid and branched horns, but gazelles with hollow and wrinkled ones: they are not animals of New Spain, as this author describes them, but natives of Africa. These errors of Seba have been adopted by most authors who have written since. They have not suspected that the animals mentioned by Seba, under the names of mazame and temamaçame, were the same as those mentioned by Hernandes, Recchi, and Fernandes. The confusion of the names has been followed by a confusion of the animals, and, in consequence, some naturalists have indicated these animals by the name of chevrotains, and others by that of gazelles, or goats. It appears that Linnæus suspected this error, for he has not adopted it. He has placed the mazame in the list of stags, and has thought, as we do, that the Mexican mazame is the same animal as the cuguacu of Brasil.

To demonstrate what we have advanced, we will suppose that there were neither gazelles, nor chevrotains, in New Spain, or in any other part of America, and that all those, as well as goats, which are at present there, have been carried from the old continent; that the true mazame of Mexico is the same animal as the cuguacu-apara of Brasil; that the name _cuguacu_ is pronounced _couguacou_; and that, by corruption, this animal is called _cariacou_ at Cayenne, from whence we had a living one sent us by this name of _cariacou_. We shall now endeavour to find out what species of animals these may be to which Seba has applied the names mazame and temamaçame, for to destroy an error it is not sufficient to reject it, but we should also explain the cause and demonstrate the effects.

The gazelles and chevrotains inhabit only the hottest countries of the Old World; they cannot exist in temperate climates, and still less in those that are cold. They could not, therefore, have ever frequented the northern countries, and have passed, by that means, from one continent to the other; nor have any travellers or historians of the New World, ever pretended to have seen them in that part of the globe. On the contrary, stags and roe-bucks, which inhabit cold and temperate climates, might have passed over the northern lands, and therefore are met with in both continents. We have observed, in our history of the stag, that the Cardian stag is the same as that of Europe; that he is only smaller, and has some slight variations in the shape of his horns and the colour of his hair. We may add, to what has been already said, that in America there are as many varieties among stags as in Europe, notwithstanding which they are of the same species. One of these varieties is the Corsican stag, which is smaller and browner than the common kind. We have also mentioned white stags, and hinds, and have said, that this colour proceeds from their domestic state; this kind is also found in America, as well as our common and small brown stags. The Mexicans, who keep these white stags in their parks, have denominated them _Royal Stags_. It is a native of Germany, and commonly called the _Stag of Ardennes_; and _Brandhirts_, by the Germans: it is at least as big as the large French stags, but differs from them by several particular characters. Its coat is thicker, and of a lighter colour under its belly: its throat and neck is furnished with long hairs, like the he-goat, which has caused both ancients and moderns to give it the name of _tragelaphus_, or _stag-like goat_. There are also a great number of roe-bucks in America: we are only acquainted with two varieties in Europe, the red and the brown; the latter are smaller than the former, but they perfectly resemble each other. The mazame of Mexico, the cuguacu-apara of Brasil, and the cariacou, or forest hind of Cayenne, entirely resemble our red roe-bucks. Comparing the descriptions given of them is a sufficient proof, that all these names denote the same animal. But the temamaçame, which we suppose to be the cuguacu-été of Brasil, the small cariacou of Cayenne may be a variety different from those of Europe. The temamaçame is less, and whiter on the belly than the mazame, in the same manner as our brown roe-buck has a whiter belly, and is smaller than our red one; it seems also to differ by the horns, which is single and without antlers in the figure given by Recchi; but if we consider that our roe-bucks, and stags, have no antlers in the first, and sometimes even in the second year of their age, we shall be inclined to think, that Recchi's temamaçame was too young to have antlers: these two animals, therefore, appear to be only simple varieties in the roe-buck species.

It now remains to enquire what these two animals, mentioned by Seba, by the false names of _mazame_ and _temamaçame_ really are. The bare inspection of the figures, independently of his description, demonstrates, that these animals belong to the goats or gazelles, and not to the stags or roe-bucks. The want of a beard, and the shape of the horns, prove, they are not goats, but gazelles; and, by comparing Seba's figures with the gazelles which we have described, I found that his pretended _temamaçame of New Spain_, is the _kob_, or _little brown cow of Senegal_. The figure, colour, and size of the horns are the same; the colour of the hair is also the same, and differs from that of other gazelles, by not being white, but yellow under the belly and upon the flanks. With respect to the pretended mazame, although it resembles the gazelles in general, yet it differs in particular from all those we have before enumerated; but we saw in M. Adanson's cabinet, where he has collected the most rare productions of Senegal, a stupid animal which we call _nagor_, by reason of the resemblance of its horns with those of the nanguer. This animal is found in the neighbouring island of Goree, from whence he was sent to M. Adanson by M. Andriot, and possesses all the characters which Seba gives to his pretended mazame; its body is of a pale red, and its belly is not white, like the other gazelles; it is of the size of the roe-buck; its horns are not six inches long, almost smooth, and slightly bent forwards, but not so much as those of the nanguer. Therefore this animal, mentioned by Seba, by the name of _mazame_, or _American stag_, is only an African goat, or gazelle, which we have added here by the name of the _nagor_ to the twelve other gazelles, whose history we have already given.

THE COUDOUS.

The class of ruminating animals is, of all others, the most numerous and the most varied. It contains, as we have seen, a great number of species, and, perhaps, a still greater number of distinct races, or constant varieties. Notwithstanding all our enquiries, and the considerable details into which we have been obliged to enter, we freely confess, that we have not exhausted the subject, and that there still remain even very remarkable animals which we are only acquainted with by imperfect fragments, and are unable to ascertain with precision to what class they belong. For example, in the very great collection of horns in the royal cabinet, as well as those dispersed in private museums, each of which, after much labour, and a multiplicity of comparisons, we have referred to the animal it belonged; there still remained one without label, or any mark affixed to it, absolutely unknown. This horn is large, almost straight, and composed of a very thick black substance; it is not solid, like that of the stag, but resembles that of the ox. From the base to beyond the middle of the horn is a thick ridge, raised about an inch; and although the horn is straight, this prominent ridge makes a spiral turn and a half in the interior part, and is wholly effaced in the superior part of the horn, which terminates in a point. This horn, which differs from every other, seems to have the nearest affinity to that of the buffalo; but we were ignorant of the name of the animal to which it belonged, and it was not till hunting through the different cabinets that we found in that of M. Dupleix part of a head adorned with two similar horns, and to which was affixed a label with these words: "_the horns of an animal nearly like a horse, of a greyish colour; with a mane on the fore part of its head like a horse; it is called at Pondicherry_ coësdoës, _which should be pronounced_ coudous." This little discovery gave me great pleasure; but I have not been able to meet with this name _coësdoës_, or _coudous_, in the writings of any traveller; the label only has informed us that it is of a large size, and to be met with in the hottest countries of Asia. The buffalo is of the same climate, and has likewise a mane; it is true his horns are crooked and flat, while those of the coudous are round and straight, which, together with the colour, are sufficient indications of the difference of these two animals; for the buffalo has a black skin and hair, and, according to the label, the hair of the other is grey. These relations suggest others: the travellers in Asia speak of the large buffaloes of Bengal, of red buffaloes, and of the grey buffaloes of the Mogul empire, which are called _nil-gauts_; the coudous may possibly be one or other of these animals, and the travellers into Africa, where the buffalo is as common as in Asia, more precisely mention a species of buffalo, called _pacassa_ at Congo, which from their indications seems to be the coudous. "In the route from Louanda to the kingdom of Congo[Y], we perceived two pacassas, which are animals resembling buffaloes, and which roar like lions. The male and female go always together; they are white, spotted with red and black; their ears are about half an ell long, and their horns are perfectly straight: they neither fly at the sight of the human species nor do any injury, but only stare at them as they pass along." We have before mentioned, that the animal, called at Congo, empacassa, or pacassa, appeared to be the buffalo. It is, in fact, a kind of buffalo, but differs from it by the shape of the horns and the colour of the hair; in one word, the pacassa is the coudous, which perhaps forms a separate species from that of the buffalo, and perhaps, also, may only be a variety of it[Z].

[Y] Relation de Congo, par les PP. Michael-Ange de Galline et Denys de Charly de Plaisance, Capuchins.

[Z] The coudous is from five to eight feet in height. The body is of a bluish ash colour, with a black mane. The head is reddish; the tail is black at its extremity, and terminated by a little tuft. Both sexes have horns. They are of a deep black colour, and two feet in length. The Hotentots make tobacco pipes of them. Their flesh is excellent.

THE MUSK.

To finish the history of goats, gazelles, chevrotains, and other animals of this genus, which are all found in the old continent, it only remains to give that of the Musk, an animal as famous as it is unknown. This is the animal which produces the real musk; all modern naturalists, and the greatest part of travellers through Asia, have mentioned it, some by the name of a stag, a roe-buck, or a musk-goat, and others have considered it as a large chevrotain. It seems indeed to be of an ambiguous nature, participating of all the above animals, yet at the same time we can assert, that its species is different from all other quadrupeds. It is about the size of a small roe-buck, but its head is without horns, and by this character it resembles the _memina_ or _chevrotain_ of India. It has two great canine teeth or tusks in the upper jaw, and by this it approaches the _chevrotain_ of India; but what distinguishes the musk from all other animals is a kind of bag about two or three inches in diameter, which grows near the navel, and in which the liquor, or rather the greasy humour called musk is secreted, and which differs from that of the civet both in smell and consistence. Neither the Greeks nor Romans mention the musk animal. The first that noticed it were the Arabs. Gesner, Aldrovandus, Kircher, and Boym have given more extended accounts of this animal; but Grew is the only person who has made an exact description of it, from a skin which was preserved in the cabinet of the Royal Society of London. His description is as follows:--"The musk stag is about three feet six inches in length, from the head to the tail; the head is about half a foot long; the neck seven or eight inches; the fore part of the head three inches broad, and the nose sharp like that of a greyhound; the ears are erect, like those of a rabbit, and about three inches long; the tail is not above two inches; the fore-legs, including feet and thighs, are thirteen or fourteen inches long; he is cloven-footed, armed on his fore-feet behind and before with two horny substances: the hind feet were wanting. The hair of the head and legs about half an inch long, and very fine; thicker under the belly, and an inch and a half in length; on the back and crupper they are three inches, and three or four times thicker than the bristles of a hog, of course more so than that of any other animal. It is brown and white alternately, from the root to the point; on the head and thighs it is brown; under the belly and tail white; a little curled, especially on the back and belly; it is very soft, and has the appearance of being something between a common hair and a quill; on each side of the lower jaw, under the corners of the mouth, there is a small tuft of thick hair, which is short and hard, about three-fourths of an inch long, and somewhat resembling the bristles of a hog. The bladder, or bag, which contains the musk is about three inches long, two broad, swells out from the belly about an inch and a half, and stands near as much before the groin. The animal has twenty-six teeth, sixteen in the lower jaw, of which the eight in front are incisive, the four grinders behind, are rugged and continuous, and as many similar grinders in the upper jaw. There is also a tusk about two inches and a half long on each side in the upper jaw, which terminate in the form of a hook, not round but flat, and have a sharp edge behind. They have no horns, &c.[AA]"

[AA] Grew's Museum.

In 1681, a year after Grew's publication, Luc Schrockius printed a history of this animal at Vienna, in which we do not find any thing very exact, nor absolutely new. We shall, however, select such facts as may be collected from it, and which agree with those in other authors, and especially in the works of the more modern travellers. We have been under the necessity of contenting ourselves with collecting what has been said of this animal, which we have never seen, and which we have not been able to procure. By Grew's description, which is the only authentic work we can rely on, it appears, that the hair of this animal is long and rough, the muzzle pointed, and the tusks somewhat like those of the hog: in these characters it approaches the boar kind, or perhaps still more the babiroussa, which the naturalists have denominated the _Indian boar_; and which, though resembling the hog in many characters, like the musk animal, he is much smaller, and has longer and slender legs, like those of the stag, or roe-buck. On the other hand, the American hog, which we have called _pecari_, has a bag, or cavity, on its back, containing an odoriferous humour. The musk animal has a similar bag, not on his back, but under the belly. In general, those animals which produce odoriferous liquors, as the badger, the bearer, the pecari, the musk-rat, the civet, the zibet, are not of the stag or goat genus: thus we might be tempted to think, that the musk animal is nearer the hog kind, of which he has the tusks, if he had, at the same time, incisive teeth in his upper jaw; but his deficiency in that respect, makes him come nearer the ruminating animals, and especially the chevrotain, which ruminates, though it has no horns; but all these external indexes can only furnish us with conjectures. It is the inspection of the internal parts alone that can decide the nature of this animal, which is not even as yet perfectly known; nor have I placed him after the goats and antelopes from any conviction or even reason to conclude he belongs to those species.

Marco Polo, Barbosa, Thevenot, and Marini, are all more or less deceived in the characters they have given of this animal[AB]. The only true point in which they agree is, that the musk is formed in a bag, or tumour, near the navel, and it appears by their testimonies, as well as those of other travellers, that the male only produces the musk; that the female has a similar bag near the navel, but that the humour which gathers there, has not the same smell; that this tumour of the male is only filled with musk at the rutting-time, and that at other times the quantity of this humour is less, and the odoriferous scent much weaker.

[AB] There exists in fact, says Sonnini, a variety of the musk animal which is entirely white. It is however very rare. Pallas saw a female of this variety which came from the country of the Abakanks. _See Pallas, vol. iv. p. 14._

In respect to the musk itself, its essence, or pure substance, is, perhaps, as little known as the nature of the animal which produces it. All travellers agree, that the musk is always mixed and adulterated with blood, or some other drugs, by those who sell it. The Chinese not only increase the quantity by this mixture, but they endeavour likewise to increase the weight, by incorporating with it lead very finely ground. The purest musk, and that which is the most sought after, even by the Chinese themselves, is that which the animal deposits upon trees or stones, against which he rubs himself when the quantity becomes too great, or renders the pouch uneasy. That which is found in the bag is seldom so good, because it is not fully ripe, or because perhaps it is only in their rutting season that it acquires all its strength and smell; and that it is at this time the animal endeavours to disburthen himself of a matter which then causes violent itchings, and possibly some degree of pain.

Chardin and Tavernier have both described the means, which the eastern nations make use of to adulterate the musk[AC]: the merchants must necessarily increase the quantity of it beyond conception, since in one year Tavernier purchased 1673 bags, which supposes an equal number of animals to have been taken. But as this animal is no where domestic, and as the species is confined to some few provinces of the East, it is impossible to be sufficiently numerous to produce so great a quantity of this matter. We cannot, therefore, doubt the greatest part of these pretended bags, or bladders, are only artificial ones made of the skin of the other parts of the animal, and filled with its blood, mixed with a very small quantity of true musk. Its scent is, in fact, the strongest of any yet known; a single grain is sufficient to perfume a great quantity of other matter; the odour of the smallest particle will perfume a considerable space; and the perfume itself is so permanent, that at the end of several years it does not seem to have lost much of its power.[AD]

[AC] It is said that when the animal is taken, and the musk bag first opened, that the odour is so strong the hunter is obliged to have several folds of linen over his nose and mouth, and that even then it sometimes proves fatal. I am inclined to believe this is true: because the musk decreases in strength with time, and when I dealt in that article, I always found it requisite to stand in the open air, and at a distance from those who moved the bladders. This drug is, however, very frequently adulterated by the hunters with the blood of the animal, and by the merchants with the blood of oxen, lead, &c. But the natives of India have various methods of detecting this adulteration, they discover it by the taste, and weight, but mostly with a thread steeped in the juice of garlic which they draw through the bag with a needle, and if it retains that smell they are certain of its being adulterated. _Voyage de Chardin._

[AD] The musk is a solitary animal, which prefers high mountains and rugged rocks; sometimes he descends into the profound and dark chasms which separate the highest chains of mountains, and sometimes he climbs to their tops covered with snow. He is very agile, and swims very well; extremely ferocious, it is difficult to approach him, and equally so to tame him, though mildness forms the basis of his character. He is in rut in the months of November and December; this season of love is also the season of furious combats between the males. They eat the flesh of this animal: but that of the young ones alone is good and tender.

_Engraved for Barr's Buffon_

The Babiroussa.