28 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 



plant life in the tropics, and, like all naturalists, he 

 was very enthusiastic over it. Among the animals 

 that particularly attracted his attention was the sloth, 

 a peculiar creature climbing slowly about the trees, 

 small of size and sluggish of habit. Another animal 

 that interested him greatly was the little armadillo 

 with its interesting habit of curling up in its plated 

 skin. 



Captain Fitzroy soon finished what work he was 

 required to do in this neighborhood, and Darwin was 

 called back to the Beagle to continue his voyage. 

 When they arrived at the mouth of La Plata their 

 most serious work began. Here there was much 

 tedious charting for Fitzroy, and Darwin could now 

 leave the vessel for a lengthy trip on shore. This 

 was doubly welcome. Seasickness was nearly constant 

 with Darwin while on this entire voyage and every 

 opportunity to work on land was eagerly seized. This 

 region, too, was rich in objects of interest and in 

 strange people. While exploring the pampas, beyond 

 Buenos Ayres, Darwin came across the skeletons of 

 the great mammals some of which Cuvier had pre- 

 viously described. He studied these bones with much 

 care, and recognized at once in the megatherium a 

 great similarity in structure to the sloth he had seen 

 in Brazil. The enormous skeletons of the glyptodons 

 struck him also as strangely similar to that of the ar- 



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