Of the animal called guacabitinax or paca.

Translated by Kristine (Kasey) Drake ’23

The guacabitinax or paca [Agouti paca Linnaeus] is a four-legged animal, about the size of a warren hound; its hair is smooth like that of a brown deer; its legs are cleft and thin and smooth, in the manner of a deer; its head is like that of a pig and the snout and teeth like those of a rabbit; they do not have a tail, and when skinned the animal’s fat is like that of a pig, and they are a very fine delicacy. They build their dens in the ground like rabbits, and there are many of them on islands near the Pearl Islands archipelago and on the island of the Snakes, near the San Juan River (some call it Felipa Island and others Gorgona). And there are other animals the size of a year-old pig and wonderful to eat, one of the most flavorful meats in those parts, and they are no more or less than the guacabitinax or paca, except that some of them are spotted in different colors between brown and black, as it usual in sheep or deer.