Catesby, Mark. Appendix Pl. 18, The Java Hare

Mark Catesby (1638 - 1749)Etching with hand color, paper dimensions: approximately 14 x 19 inchesFrom the Appendix (Part 11) to Catesby's Natural History of Carolina, Florida & the Bahama IslandsLondon: 1747 - 1771 Currently known as the Brazilian agouti, Dasyprocta leporina and shortleaf fig or Jamaica cherry-fig, Ficus citrifolia*, Catesby described these subjects as follows:      LEPUS JAVENSIS. The JAVA HARE. It about the bigness of an ordinary sized Hare, covered with hair of a reddish brown colour; the head small in proportion to the body; the eyes were large and prominent; the ears like those of a Rat; except which, the head partook of the likeness both of a Deer and an Hare; the hindpart of the body and thighs remarkably big; the legs were long; the fore-feet has each four toes, the outermost being very short; the hind-feet had only three toes on each foot; it had a very short tail; it was very tame and inoffensive, and fed only on fruit and other vegetables. They are nativ