THE ARMADILLO. 147 



cruelty of man, or of dogs trained up to the sport of tearing it 

 in pieces, merely to gratify the barbarous pleasure of seeing a 

 harmless creature endure with astonishing patience the most 

 wanton and unprovoked outrages. The cruelties inflicted on this 

 inoffensive animal for savage pastime, are often such as must 

 make sensibility shudder. Shocking, indeed, must it be to con- 

 sider that man, weak and mortal himself, and liable to a thou- 

 sand misfortunes, should find a barbarous pleasure in torturing, 

 with savage cruelty, beings, which, like himself, are endowed 

 with life and sensation, and, like himself, are exposed to a variety 

 of physical evils. Although inferior to him in the scale of exist- 

 ence, the consideration of that inferiority ought to excite his 

 compassion, and not stimulate him to cruelty ; above all, it ought 

 to excite his gratitude to the Bountiful Giver of all good, for 

 that pre-eminence over the brute creation with which he sees 

 himself endowed. 



During the winter, these animals wrap themselves up in a nest 

 of moss, leaves, and dried grass ; and it is sometimes so com- 

 pletely covered with herbage, that it resembles a ball of dried 

 leaves : in this situation it remains perfectly torpid, till revived 

 by the cheering influence of spring. The female produces four 

 or five young ones at a time, which are soon covered with spines, 

 though shorter and weaker than those of the parent animal. It 

 is said that these creatures may be in some degree domesticated; 

 and an instance once occurred in Northumberland, of a hedge- 

 hog performing the duty of a turnspit at a public inn. 



THE ARMADILLO 



Is a curious animal, and, like the tortoise, is covered with a 

 strong shell, or rather a mass of scaly incrustations. To give a 

 minute description of the shells of this quadruped, would be ex- 

 tremely difficult, or rather impossible, as they are all composed 

 of a number of parts differing greatly from each other in the 

 arrangement of the figures by which they are distinguished. In 

 general, there are two large pieces of shell which cover the 

 shoulders and the rump, between which lie the bands, which are 

 more or less numerous in the different species. These bands, 

 which somewhat resemble those in the tail of a lobster, being 

 flexible, give way to the motions of the animal. 



The Indians hunt the armadillo with dogs trained for that pur- 

 pose. The moment it perceives itself attacked, it flies to its hole, 

 or makes a new one, which it does with great expedition, by 

 means of the strong claws with which its fore-feet are armed. 

 If no other chance of escape be left, it draws its head under its 

 shell like a snail, tucks its feet close to its belly, unites the ex- 

 tremities of the head and tail, and thus closely rolled up, pre- 



