136 THE REASON WHY: 



Weariness can snore upon flint, 



When resty sloth finds the down pillow hard." SHAKSPERE. 



415. Mr. Watcrton, in his "Wanderings in South America," gives some interest- 

 in? particulars of the sloth. He says : " One day, as we were crossing the 

 Essequibo, I saw a large two-toed sloth on the ground upon the bank ; how he had 

 got there, nobody could tell. The Indian said he had never surpi'ised a sloth in 

 such a position before ; he would hardly have come there to drink, for both above 

 and below the place, the branches of the trees touched the water, and afforded him 

 an easy and safe access to it. Be this as it may, though the trees were not above 

 twenty yards from him, he could not make his way through the sand time enough 

 to escape before we landed. As soon as we got up to him, he threw himself upon 

 his back, and defended himself in gallant style with his fore-legs. ' Come, poor 

 fellow,' said I to him, ' if thou hast got into a hobble to-day, thou shalt not suffer 

 for it : I'll take no advantage of thee in misfortune ; the forest is large enough both 

 for thee and me to rove in : go thy ways up above, and enjoy thyself in thetse 

 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 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 lost sight for ever of th* 

 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." 



Having captured another of these animals, he had a good opportunity of making 

 some observations : " The sloth was in my house with me for a day or two. Had 

 I taken a description of him as he lay sprawling on the floor, I should have misled 

 the world, and injured natural history. On the ground he appeared really a 

 bungled composition, and faulty at all points ; awkwardness and misery were 

 depicted on his countenance ; and when I made him advance he sighed as though 

 in pain. Pei'haps it was, that by seeing him out of his element, as it were, that the 

 Count de Buffon, in his 'History of the Sloth,' asks the question,' Why should 

 not some animals be created for misery, since, in the human species, the greatest 

 number of individuals are devoted to pain from the moment of their existence ?' 

 Were the question put to me, I would answer I cannot conceive that any of them 

 are created for misery. That thousands live in misery there can be no doubt ; but 

 then misery has overtaken them in their path through life, and wherever man has 

 come up with them, I should suppose they have seldom escaped from experiencing 1 

 a certain proportion of misery. 



" After fully satisfying myself that it only leads the world into error to describe the 

 sloth while he is on the ground, or in any place except in a tree, I carried the one I 

 had in my possession to his native haunts. As sfv-n as he came in contact with a 

 branch all went right with him. I could see, as he limbed up into his own country 

 that he was on the right road to happiness ; and felt persuaded more than ever, 

 that the world has hitherto erred in its conjectures concerning the slolli, on 



