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to rove in go thy ways up above, and enjoy thyself in THIRD these endless wilds; it is more than probable thou wilt never have another interview with man. So fare thee well." On saying this, I took up a long stick which was lying there, held it for him to hook on, and then conveyed him to a high and stately Mora. He ascended with wonderful rapidity, and in about a minute he was almost at the top of the tree. He now went off in a side direction, and caught hold of the branch of a neighbouring tree; he then proceeded towards the heart of the forest. I stood looking on, lost in amazement at his singular mode of progress. I followed him with my eye till the intervening branches closed in betwixt us; and then I lostsight for ever of the two-toed Sloth. I was going to add, that I never saw a Sloth take to his heels in such earnest; but the expression will not do, for the Sloth has no heels.

That which naturalists have advanced of his being so tenacious of life, is perfectly true. I saw the heart of one beat for half an hour after it was taken out of the body. The wourali poison seems to be the only thing that will kill it quickly. On reference to a former part of these wanderings, it will be seen that a poisoned arrow killed the Sloth in about ten minutes.

He

So much for this harmless, unoffending animal. holds a conspicuous place in the catalogue of the animals of the new world. Though naturalists have made no

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Ants.

mention of what follows, still it is not less true on that account. The Sloth is the only quadruped known, which spends its whole life from the branch of a tree, suspended by his feet. I have paid uncommon attention to him in his native haunts. The monkey and squirrel will seize a branch with their fore feet, and pull themselves up, and rest or run upon it; but the Sloth, after seizing it, still remains suspended, and suspended moves along under the branch, till he can lay hold of another. Whenever I have seen him in his native woods, whether at rest, or asleep, or on his travels, I have always observed that he was suspended from the branch of a tree. When his form and anatomy are attentively considered, it will appear evident that the Sloth cannot be at ease in any situation, where his body is higher, or above his feet. We will now take our leave of him.

In the far-extending wilds of Guiana, the traveller will be astonished at the immense quantity of Ants which he perceives on the ground and in the trees. They have nests in the branches, four or five times as large as that of the rook; and they have a covered way from them to the ground. In this covered way thousands are perpetually passing and repassing; and if you destroy part of it, they turn to, and immediately repair it.

Other species of Ants again have no covered way; but travel, exposed to view, upon the surface of the earth. You will sometimes see a string of these Ants a mile long,

each carrying in its mouth to its nest a green leaf, the size of a sixpence. It is wonderful to observe the order in which they move, and with what pains and labour they surmount the obstructions of the path.

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species of

The Ants have their enemies, as well as the rest of Three animated nature. Amongst the foremost of these stand Ant-bears. the three species of Ant-bears. The smallest is not much larger than a rat; the next is nearly the size of a fox; and the third a stout and powerful animal, measuring above six feet from the snout to the end of the tail. He is the most inoffensive of all animals, and never injures the property of man. He is chiefly found in the inmost recesses of the forest, and seems partial to the low and swampy parts near creeks, where the Troely tree grows. There he goes up and down in quest of Ants, of which there is never the least scarcity; so that he soon obtains a sufficient supply of food, with very little trouble. He cannot travel fast; man is superior to him in speed. Without swiftness to enable him to escape from his enemies, without teeth, the possession of which would assist him in self-defence, and without the power of burrowing in the ground, by which he might conceal himself from his pursuers, he still is capable of ranging through these wilds in perfect safety; nor does he fear the fatal pressure of the serpent's fold, or the teeth of the famished Jaguar. Nature has formed his fore legs wonderfully thick, and strong, and muscular, and armed his feet with three

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tremendous sharp and crooked claws. Whenever he seizes an animal with these formidable weapons, he hugs it close to his body, and keeps it there till it dies through pressure, or through want of food. Nor does the Antbear, in the mean time, suffer much from loss of aliment, as it is a well known fact, that he can go longer without food than, perhaps, any other animal, except the land tortoise. His skin is of a texture that perfectly resists the bite of a dog; his hinder parts are protected by thick and shaggy hair, while his immense tail is large enough to cover his whole body.

The Indians have a great dread of coming in contact with the Ant-bear; and after disabling him in the chase, never think of approaching him till he be quite dead. It is perhaps on account of this caution, that naturalists have never yet given to the world a true and correct drawing of this singular animal, or described the peculiar position of his fore feet when he walks or stands. If, in taking a drawing from a dead Ant-bear, you judge of the position in which he stands from that of all other terrestrial animals, the sloth excepted, you will be in error. Examine only a figure of this animal, in books of natural history, or inspect a stuffed specimen in the best museums, and you will see that the fore claws are just in the same forward attitude, as those of a dog, or a common bear, when he walks or stands. But this is a distorted and unnatural position; and in life, would be a painful and

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intolerable attitude for the Ant-bear. The length and THIRD curve of his claws cannot admit of such a position. When he walks or stands, his feet have somewhat the appearance of a club-hand. He goes entirely on the outer side of his fore feet, which are quite bent inwards; the claws collected into a point, and going under the foot. In this position he is quite at ease; while his long claws are disposed of in a manner to render them harmless to him, and are prevented from becoming dull and worn, like those of the dog, which would inevitably be the case, did their points come in actual contact with the ground; for his claws have not that retractile power which is given to animals of the feline species, by which they are enabled to preserve the sharpness of their claws on the most flinty path. A slight inspection of the fore feet of the Antbear, will immediately convince you of the mistake artists and naturalists have fallen into, by putting his fore feet in the same position as that of other quadrupeds; for you will perceive that the whole outer side of his foot is not only deprived of hair, but is hard and callous; proof positive of its being in perpetual contact with the ground. Now, on the contrary, the inner side of the bottom of his foot is soft and rather hairy.

of natural

There is another singularity in the anatomy of the Ant-bear, I believe, as yet unnoticed in the history. He has two very large glands situated below

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the root of the tongue. From these is emitted a glutinous