194 WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA 



indeed it is a natural coat of armour to the arma- 

 dillo, and being composed both of scale and bone, 

 it affords ample security, and has a pleasing effect. 



Often, when roving in the wilds, I would fall 

 in with the Land Tortoise ; he too adds another to 

 the list of unoffending animals ; he subsists on the 

 fallen fruits of the forest. When an enemy ap- 

 proaches he never thinks of moving, but quietly 

 draws himself under his shell, and there awaits 

 his doom in patience : he only seems to have two 

 enemies who can do him any damage ; one of these 

 is the Boa Constrictor: this snake swallows the 

 tortoise alive, shell and all. But a boa large 

 enough to do this is very scarce, and thus there 

 is not much to apprehend from that quarter ; the 

 other enemy is man, who takes up the tortoise, and 

 carries him away. Man also is scarce in these 

 never-ending wilds, and the little depredations 

 he may commit upon the tortoise will be nothing, 

 or a mere trifle. The tiger's teeth cannot pene- 

 trate its shell, nor can a stroke of his paws do it 

 any damage. It is of so compact and strong a 

 nature, that there is a common saying, a London 

 waggon might roll over it and not break it. 



Ere we proceed, let us take a retrospective 

 view of the five animals just enumerated; they 

 are all quadrupeds, and have some very particu- 

 lar mark, or mode of existence, different from all 

 other animals. The sloth has four feet, but never 

 can use them, to support his body on the earth; 

 they want soles, which are a marked feature in 

 the feet of other animals. The ant-bear has not 

 a tooth in his head, still he roves fearless on, 

 in the same forests with the Jaguar and boa con- 



