66 THROUGH THE BRAZILIAN WILDERNESS 



snout, with a tongue it can project a couple of feet; it is 

 covered with coarse, black hair, save for a couple of white 

 stripes; it has a long, bushy tail and very powerful claws 

 on its fore feet. It walks on the sides of its fore feet with 

 these claws curved in under the foot. The claws are used 

 in digging out ant-hills; but the beast has courage, and 

 in a grapple is a rather unpleasant enemy, in spite of its 

 toothless mouth, for it can strike a formidable blow with 

 these claws. It sometimes hugs a foe, gripping him tight; 

 but its ordinary method of defending itself is to strike with 

 its long, stout, curved claws, which, driven by its muscular 

 forearm, can rip open man or beast. Several of our com- 

 panions had had dogs killed by these ant-eaters; and we 

 came across one man with a very ugly scar down his back, 

 where he had been hit by one, which charged him when 

 he came up to kill it at close quarters. 



As soon as we saw the giant tamandua we pushed off 

 in a rowboat, and landed only a couple of hundred yards 

 distant from our clumsy quarry. The tamandua through- 

 out most of its habitat rarely leaves the forest, and it is a 

 helpless animal in the open plain. The two dogs ran ahead, 

 followed by Colonel Rondon and Kermit, with me behind 

 carrying the rifle. In a minute or two the hounds over- 

 took the cantering, shuffling creature, and promptly began 

 a fight with it; the combatants were so mixed up that I 

 had to wait another minute or so before I could fire without 

 risk of hitting a dog. We carried our prize back to the 

 bank and hoisted it aboard the steamer. The sun was 

 just about to set, behind dim mountains, many miles dis- 

 tant across the marsh. 



Soon afterward we reached one of the outstations of 



