of a bluish
colour, with short legs and tail; they feed also in swampy ground and are
very good meat. I have not seen of them elsewhere.

The wild ducks here are said to be of two sorts, the muscovy and the
common ducks. In the wet season here are abundance of them, but in the
dry time but few. Widgeon and teal also are said to be in great plenty
here in the wet season.

To the southward of Bahia there are also ostriches in great plenty,
though it is said they are not so large as those of Africa: they are
found chiefly in the southern parts of Brazil, especially among the large
savannahs near the river of Plate; and from thence further south towards
the Straits of Magellan.

As for tame fowl at Bahia the chief beside their ducks are
dunghill-fowls, of which they have two sorts; one sort much of the size
of our cocks and hens; the other very large: and the feathers of these
last are a long time coming forth: so that you see them very naked when
half grown; but when they are full-grown and well feathered they appear
very large fowls, as indeed they are; neither do they want for price; for
they are sold at Bahia for half-a-crown or three shillings apiece, just
as they are brought first to market out of the country, when they are so
lean as to be scarce fit to eat.

OF THEIR CATTLE, HORSES, ETC.

The land animals here are horses, black cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits,
hogs, leopards, tigers, foxes, monkeys, peccary (a sort of wild hogs
called here pica) armadillo, alligators, iguanas (called quittee)
lizards, serpents, toads, frogs, and a sort of amphibious creatures
called by the Portuguese cachoras-de-agua, in English water-dogs.

LEOPARDS AND TIGERS.

The leopards and tigers of this country are said to be large and very
fierce: but here on the coast they are either destroyed or driven back
towards the heart of the country; and therefore are seldom found but in
the borders and out-plantations, where they oftentimes do mischief. Here
are three or four sorts of monkeys, of different sizes and colours. One
sort is very large; and another sort is very small: these last are ugly
in shape and feature and have a strong scent of musk.

OF THEIR SERPENTS; THE RATTLESNAKE, SMALL GREEN SNAKE. AMPHISBAENA, SMALL
BLACK AND SMALL GREY SNAKE; THE GREAT LAND-SNAKE, AND THE GREAT
WATERSNAKE; AND OF THE WATER-DOG.

They have here also the amphisbaena, or two-headed snake, of a grey
colour, mixed with blackish stripes, whose bite