Part 17

This animal, which is found in Brasil, is neither a rabbit nor rat, yet seems to partake of both. It is about a foot long by seven inches in circumference. It is of the same colour as our hares, but white upon the belly. It has also, like that animal, a slit lip, large incisive teeth, and whiskers about the mouth and sides of the eyes; but its ears are rounded like those of a rat, and very short: the fore-legs are not more than three inches long, those behind are a little longer. The fore-feet have four toes covered with a black skin, and furnished with small short claws: the hind feet have only three toes, the middlemost of which is longer than the other two. The aperea has no tail; its head is a little longer than that of the hare, and its flesh is like that of a rabbit, which it resembles in its manner of living. It conceals itself also in holes, yet it does not burrow like the rabbit, but retires into the cavities of rocks, where it is very easily taken. The animal spoken of by Oviedo, and after him Charlevoix and Montfrasier, by the name of _cori_, appears to be the same as the apereas. In some part of the West Indies these animals may be reared in houses or warrens, as we do rabbits, and which may be the reason why some are red, white, black, and others of different colours. This conjecture is not without foundation, for Garcilasso expressly says, that there are wild and domestic rabbits at Peru which have no resemblance to those of Spain.

21. THE TAPETI.

The Tapeti seems to be very similar to, and, perhaps, a variety of that of the rabbit or hare. It is found at Brasil, and other parts of America. It resembles the European rabbit in figure, and the hare by its size and colour, being only somewhat browner. Its ears are very long, and of the same shape as those of the hare. Its hair is red on the forehead, and whitish on the throat; some have a circle of white hair round the neck; others are all white on the throat, breast, and belly. They have black eyes, and whiskers like the rabbit, but they have no tail. The tapeti resembles the hare in its manner of living, fecundity, and quality of its flesh, which is excellent food. It lives in the fields, or woods, like the hare, and does not burrow like the rabbit. The animal of New Spain, mentioned by Fernandes by the name of _citli_, seems to be the same as the _tapeti_ of Brasil; and possibly both are only varieties of our European hares, which have passed by the north from one continent to the other.

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There are still some animals which might be added to those in our preceding account, but they are so badly indicated as to be very uncertain; and I rather chose to confine myself to what is known with some degree of certainty, than deliver myself up to conjectures, and treat of fabulous for _existing beings_. Notwithstanding this limitation it will easily be perceived, that our HISTORY OF QUADRUPEDS is as complete as could be expected. It comprehends a great number of animals not observed or described before, and not any of those which were before known, have we omitted to take notice of in the course of this work.

The preceding account, though composed of twenty one-articles, yet really contains only nine or ten distinct species, for all the rest are only varieties. The white bear is only a variety of the common kind; the Tartary cow of the bison; the Guinea and Cape Verd hogs of the common hog, &c. therefore, by adding these ten species to about one hundred and eighty before spoken of, the whole number of quadrupeds, whose existence is certain and well ascertained, does not amount to more than two hundred species on the surface of the known world.

SUPPLEMENT TO THE QUADRUPEDS.

THE CRAB-EATER.

THIS animal has been called Crab-eater, or Crab-dog, from his principally living upon crabs. Some travellers have compared him to the dog and the fox, but he has much more affinity to the opossums, than whom, however, he is much larger, and the female does not carry her young in a pouch under her belly; therefore the crab-eater appears to be a different species, from any animal heretofore described.

There is a skin of one of these animals preserved in the royal cabinet, which when transmitted to us was very young; it was a male, and measured from the nose to the origin of the tail seventeen inches; the tail rather more than fifteen inches and a half, and which was of a greyish colour, scaly, and naked, gradually tapering to the point. He was about six inches and a half high. He was very short, and at a distance much resembled a terrier, his head being considerably like that of a dog. His eyes were small, the edges of the eyebrows black, and above the eyes there are hairs more than an inch long: he has similar hairs near his ears, and his whiskers were an inch and a half long, and black. He had a large crooked canine tooth on each side the upper jaw, which reached below the under. His ears were brown, naked, and round at the ends. His hair on the body woolly, of a dirty white at the bottom, and dark brown at the ends, which is intermixed with long coarse black hairs; the latter increase in length upon the thighs and spine of the back, upon the last of which they are so long as to form a kind of mane from the middle of it to the tail. On the sides and belly the hair is of a yellowish white, inclining more to yellow on the shoulders, thighs, neck, breast and head, mixed in some places with brown; and the legs and feet of a blackish brown. There are five toes on each foot; they are a little bent like those of a rat, the thumb alone being straight; the latter on the hind feet is broad, thick, and at a distance from the toes, as in apes, but on the fore-feet it is not separate from them; and the thumbnails are flat, while those on the other toes are crooked, and extend beyond the points.

I have been assured by M. de la Borde that these animals are very common in the marshy places at Cayenne, and of whom he speaks in the following terms: "These animals are very dexterous in climbing trees, upon which they remain much longer than upon the ground, especially in day-time. They have very fine teeth, and defend themselves from the dogs. Their principal food is crabs, and yet they are always fat. If they cannot get the crabs out of the holes with their feet, they then make use of their tails, as a kind of hook; but the crabs sometimes lay hold of it, and make the animal cry out; his cry resembles that of a man, and is heard at a great distance, tho' its common voice is like the grunting of a pig. The females bring forth in the hollows of old trees, and generally have four or five young at a time. The natives of the country eat their flesh, which is not unlike that of the hare. They are easily tamed, and then are fed in the houses like dogs and cats, with any kind of victuals; from which it is certain that their taste for crabs is not exclusive."

There is said to be another species of crab-eater in Cayenne, which differs from that we have described in the shape and proportions of its body, in the structure of its feet and claws, and in its tail being entirely covered with hair; and which besides seizes the crabs with its paws only.

ANONYMOUS ANIMAL.

This animal, which we shall call _anonymous_, until its real name shall become known, has some similarities to the hare, and others to the squirrel. We had the following account of it from Mr. Bruce: "On the south side of the lake anciently called _Palus Tritonides_, in Lybia, there is a very singular animal; it is from nine to ten inches in length; its ears are nearly half as long as its body, and proportionally broad, which is the case with no other quadruped, except the long-eared bat. Its muzzle resembles that of the fox, and yet it seems to approach nearer to the squirrel. It lives on the palm-trees, and feeds upon their fruit. It has short claws, and is a beautiful animal. Its colour is white, intermixed with a little grey and a bright yellow. Only the middle of the inside of the ears is naked, the other parts being garnished with large white hairs, and are covered with brown hair intermixed with yellow. The tip of the nose is black; the tail yellow, and black at the end; the tail is pretty long, but differently formed from that of the squirrel; and all its hair, as well on the body as the tail, is very soft."

MADAGASCAR RAT.

We have seen a figure of a small animal from Madagascar, which was taken from one alive in the possession of the Countess of Marsan. To me it seemed to approach nearer the species of the palm-squirrel than that of the rat; I was assured that it frequented the palm-trees; but I have not been able to procure further information concerning this animal. From its claws not projecting we may infer that it constitutes a species different from that of the rat, and approaches nearer to that of the palm-squirrel. The Dutch voyagers mention rats on the south-west coast of Madagascar, which they say live in the palm-trees, and eat the dates, and describe them to have long bodies, sharp muzzles, short legs, and long spotted tails; which characters so perfectly agree with those in the animal which we are now speaking of, that we are induced to consider them as the same species.

The one which the Countess of Marsan had, lived several years; it was extremely brisk in its movements, and its cry was nearly similar to that of the squirrel, but weaker. Its manners were also like the squirrel, for it carried its food to its mouth with its fore-paws, and erected its tail; but it could never be tamed; it would bite desperately: it was fed with fruits and almonds; it only came out of its cage at night, and it felt no inconvenience from our winters, being kept in a chamber with a small fire.

OF THE DEGENERATION OF ANIMALS.

When man began to disperse himself from climate to climate, his nature underwent several alterations; in the temperate countries, which we suppose to be near where he was originally produced, these alterations were but slight; but they increased in proportion as the distance was greater; and after many centuries had passed away, after continents had been traversed, and generations degenerated by the influence of different climates, he ventured to the extremes, and habituating himself to the scorching heats of the south, and the frozen regions of the north, the changes have become so great, that there is room to imagine the Negro, the Laplander, and the White, different species; were it not certain that there was but one man originally created, and, that the White, the Laplander, and the Negro, can unite and propagate the great family of the human kind. Thus their colours are not original, their dissimilitude being only external and superficial. It is the same being which is tinctured with black under the torrid zone, and rendered tawny, with contracted limbs, by the rigour of the cold under the polar circle. This fact is alone sufficient to demonstrate that there is more strength, extent, and flexibility, in man than in any other being; for vegetables, and almost every animal, are confined to particular soils and climates. This extension of our nature depends less on the properties of our bodies than those of our minds. By the last, man has been enabled to seek those things which are necessary for the delicacy of the body; by that he has found out the means of bearing the inclemencies of the weather, and of conquering the barrenness of the earth. He may be said to have subdued the elements: by a single ray of his intellect he produced the element of fire, which before did not exist on the surface of the earth: he has cloathed, sheltered, and lodged himself, thus providing against every external attack: he has compensated by his reason for every deficiency; and although not so strong, so large, nor so robust, as many animals, yet he has found means to conquer, subdue, enslave, and deprive them of those spaces which Nature seems to have resigned for their use.

The earth is divided into two great continents: and though this division is more ancient than all human structures and monuments, yet man is still older, for he is found the same in both. The Asiatic, the European, and the Negro, propagate alike with the American. Nothing proves more strongly that they have issued from one source than the facility with which they reunite with the common stock. The blood is different, but the germ is the same. The skin, the hair, the features, and the size, have varied, but the internal form has not changed. The type is general and common, and if it should ever happen, by some revolution not to be foreseen, but within the possibility of things, that man should be obliged to forsake those climates which he has possessed himself of, and return to his native country, he would in time resume his original features, his primitive size, and his natural colour. But the mixture of races would produce the same effect in a much shorter time. The conjunction of a white male with a black female, or a black male with a white female, equally produce a mulatto, whose colour is brown, that is, a mixture of black and white. The mulatto intermixing with a white, produces a second mulatto not so brown as the former; and if this second mulatto unites with a white, the third mulatto will have no more than a slight tincture of the brown, which will entirely disappear in succeeding generations. Thus, by this mixture with a white, one hundred and fifty, or two hundred years is sufficient to bleach the skin of the Negro; but it would, perhaps, require many centuries to produce this effect by the influence of climate alone. Since the Negroes were transported to America, which is about two hundred years, not the smallest shade of difference is perceivable in the colour of those families which have preserved themselves from mixture. It is true the climate of South America being hot enough to give the natives a brown tint, we ought not to be astonished that the Negroes retain their colour in that part of the world. Indeed, to make a proper experiment of the change of colour in the human species, some individuals of this black race should be transported from Senegal to Denmark, where the people have generally fair skins, golden locks, and blue eyes; and where the difference of blood, and opposition of colour, are the greatest. We must keep these Negroes with their females apart from the inhabitants, and scrupulously prevent all crossing of their breed. This is the only method of learning how much time it would require to change a Negro into a White, or a White into a Black, by the influence of climate.

This is the greatest alteration that the atmosphere has made on man, and yet this is only superficial. The colour of the skin, hair, and eyes, varies solely according to the influence of climate. The other changes, such as that of size, features, and the quality of the hair, do not seem to depend on this cause alone, for among the Negro race, the greatest part of whom have frizzled wool on their heads, a flat nose, and thick lips, we meet with whole nations with long and real hair, and regular features. Again, if we compare, among the white race, the Dane with the Calmuck Tartar, or only the Finlander with the Laplander, who are so near each other, we shall find as much difference between them, with respect to size and features, as there is among the Negroes; consequently we must subjoin some other cause to that of the climate to account for these alterations, which are stronger than the former. The most general and direct cause is the quality of the food, for it is principally through the aliments that man receives the influence of the soil which he inhabits, the air and atmosphere acting more superficially. While the latter alter the external surface by changing the colour of the skin, food acts upon the internal form by its properties, which are constantly relative to those of the earth by which it is produced. Even in the same country we find strong differences between men who occupy the high lands, and those who live in the low. The inhabitants of the mountains are always better made, more spirited, and handsomer than those of the valley: therefore, in countries far distant from the original climates, where herbage, fruit, grain, and the flesh of animals, differ both in quality and substance, the men who feed on them must undergo greater changes. These impressions are not suddenly made. Time is required for man to receive the tincture of the atmosphere, and still more for the earth to transmit its qualities to him. Ages, joined to a constant use of the same nutriment, is necessary to influence the form of the features, the size of the body, the substance of the hair, and to produce those internal alterations which, being afterwards perpetuated by generation, have become the general and constant characters, by which the races, and even the different nations, which compose the human race, are distinguished.

In brute animals these effects are quicker and greater; for, partaking more of the nature of the soil than man, and their food being more uniform and unprepared, the quality is more decisive, and, consequently, its influence stronger; and because as the animals cannot clothe nor shelter themselves, nor make use of the element of fire, they remain constantly exposed to the impressions of the air, and inclemencies of the climate. For this reason every animal has chosen its zone and country according to its nature; for the same reason they remain there, and instead of extending or dispersing themselves, like the human race, they generally continue in those places which are most agreeable to their constitutions. When driven by man, or carried away, or forced by any revolution of the globe to forsake their native country, their nature undergoes such great and strong alterations, that they are no longer to be known, except by attentive inspection, experiment, and analogy. If to these natural causes of alteration in free animals we add that of the empire of man over those which he has reduced to slavery, we shall be surprised to see how far tyranny is able to degrade and disfigure Nature; we shall perceive on all the animals which are reduced to slavery, the stigmas of their captivity, and the impressions of their fetters; we shall find that those wounds are deeper, and more incurable, in proportion to their antiquity; and that in the state wherein we have reduced domestic animals it would perhaps be impossible to reinstate them in their primitive form, and to restore to them those other natural attributes of which we have deprived them.

Thus, the temperature of the climate, the quality of the food, and the evils arising from slavery, are the three causes of the changes and degeneration of animals. The effects of each deserve to be particularly considered, and their relations, when viewed in detail, will present a picture, in the foreground of which we shall see Nature such as she is at present, and in the distant perspective what she was before her degradation.

Let us compare our sheep with the muflon, from whom they spring. This last, large and swift as a stag, armed with defensive horns and hoofs, and covered with a rough hair, dreads neither the inclemency of the sky, nor the voracity of the wolf. He not only escapes his enemies by his swiftness, but can even stand against them by the strength of his body, and the solidity of the weapons with which his head and feet are furnished. What a difference from our sheep, who scarcely have any power to subsist in flocks, and who cannot defend themselves even by numbers; who are unable to withstand the rigors of our winters without shelter, and who would all perish if it were not for the care and protection of man? In the hottest climates of Africa and Asia, the muflon, who is the common father of all the races of sheep, seems to have suffered less degeneration than in any other country; for, though reduced to a domestic state, he has preserved his stature and his hair, and has only suffered a loss in the size of his weapons. The sheep of Senegal and India are the largest of all domestic sheep, and those whose nature has experienced the least degradation. The sheep of Barbary, Egypt, Arabia, Persia, Armenia, &c. have undergone greater changes; they are, relatively speaking, with regard to the human species, improved in some respects, and vitiated in others; but improvement and degeneration are the same thing with regard to Nature, as they both imply an alteration from the original formation. Their coarse hair is changed into fine wool; their tail, loaded with a lump of fat, has become so large and inconvenient a bulk, that the animal drags it along with pain and difficulty; and while thus charged with superfluous matter, and adorned with a beautiful fleece, their strength, agility, and weapons are diminished; for these broad and long-tailed sheep are scarcely half the size of the muflon; they cannot fly from danger, nor make resistance against an enemy; and are in continual need of the care and assistance of man to preserve and multiply their species. The degeneration of the original species is still greater in our climates. Of all the qualities belonging to the muflon, our ewes and rams retain nothing but a small portion of vivacity, and even that yields to the voice of the shepherd. Timidity, weakness, resignation, and stupidity, are the only sorrowful remains of their degraded nature. If we would restore their strength and size, our Flanders sheep should be united with the muflon, and be no longer suffered to propagate with the inferior species; and if we would devote this species to the more useful purposes of affording good meat and fine wool, we must imitate some of our neighbours in propagating the Barbary race of sheep, which, being transported into Spain and England, has been attended with such great success. Strength and magnitude are the masculine attributes; plumpness and beauty of the skin are feminine qualities. If we would have fine wool, therefore, our rams should be supplied with Barbary ewes: and if the restoration of size be the object, the muflon should be given to our sheep.

The same effect might be produced in our goats. We might change the nature of their hair, and render it as useful as the finest wool, by intermixing them with the goats of Angora. The goat species, although greatly degenerated, is less so in our climate, than that of the sheep; and in the warm countries of Africa and India, it appears to be still more degenerated. The smallest and weakest goats, are those of Guinea, Juda, &c. and yet in those countries we find the largest and strongest sheep.