Book XII, Chapter XXXV
Of the animal called adine.[1]
Translated by Kristine (Kasey) Drake ’23
The animals the Spaniards call adines are found in many parts of the Mainland, especially in the river they call Santa Cruz on this part of the Strait of Magellan, in the southern land, where there are many of these adines. They are like wolves and howl like them; they use a malicious defense, which nature has provided them for their protection, and it is that when a crossbowman threatens to shoot them, or some hunter follows them, they raise their leg and spray very foul urine at anyone who bothers them. And the smell of that urine is so bad and so foul that there is no human who can continue in pursuit when faced with the disgusting and unpleasantness of such a stench, and thus it distracts the hunter and his hounds and they let it go, and it flees and hides and escapes such danger and death.
[1] The animal described in this chapter appears to combine elements of two southern cone species: Humboldt’s hog-nosed skunk (Conepatus humboltii), whose behavior corresponds to the ability to spray a liquid with a strong unpleasant smell described above; and the zorro culpeo patagónico or Andean fox (Lycalopex culpaeus magellanicus). Adines may refer to the adive, a popular fox-like animal endemic to Asian deserts imported to Europe in the 16th century as a domestic pet. [English editor’s note]
Image: Illustration of a hog-nosed skunk by John James Audubon in the 19th century.
