Of the animal called cori.
Translated by Lizabeth Paravisini-Gebert
The cori is a small, four-legged animal, the size of a medium-sized young rabbit. These coris look like a species or type of rabbit, except that their snouts are similar to those of mice, but less pointed. The ears are very small and are held (or grow normally) so close to the head that it seems they are missing them or don’t have them. They have no tail whatsoever; their hands and feet are very delicate from their joints or hamstrings down; they have three larger toes and another smaller one, all of them very fine. They are white all over, and others are totally black, but most of them are spotted in either color. There are also some of a russet color, and some spotted in white and russet. They are mute animals and not bothersome and very domesticated, and they live around the house and keep it clean and they do not shriek or make any sounds, nor do they do any harm by gnawing or chewing. They eat grass and sustain themselves with the bit of grass they are fed, of the sort that horses eat; but they do better and gain more weight is they are fed a bit of cassava, although the grass is a more natural nourishment for them. I have eaten them, and their taste is like that of young rabbits, since the flesh is tender and less dry than that of the rabbit. At present, many can be found here and in many other islands and the Mainland, especially in the province of Venezuela, where they are bigger than I have described and almost the size of a full-grown rabbit; but they are wilder than I described above and their hair is like that of squirrels.