ARMADILLO. 211 



THE ARMADILLO 



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

 with a strong shell, or rather a mass of scaly incrusta- 

 tions. To give a minute description of the shells of 

 this quadruped, would be extremely difficult, or ra- 

 ther, impossible, as they are all composed of a num- 

 ber of parts differing greatly from each other in the 

 arrangement of the figures by which they are dis- 

 tinguished. In general, there are two large pieces of 

 shell which cover the shoulders and the rump, be- 

 tween which lie the bands, which are more or lesg 

 numerous in the different species. These bands, 

 which somewhat resemble those in the tail of a lob- 

 ster, being flexible, give way to the motions of the 

 animal. 



The Indians hunt the armadillo with dogs trained 

 for the purpose. The moment it perceives itself at- 

 tacked, 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 extremities of the head and tail, and, thus 

 closely rolled up, presents to its antagonist a callous 

 ball, on which no impression can be made. In this 

 posture it sometimes effects its escape, by rolling it- 

 self over the edge of an abrupt precipice, in which 

 case it generally falls to the bottom, unhurt. The 

 most successful method of catching armadillos, is by 

 snares laid for them in the places which they fre- 

 quent. They are hunted chiefly for the exquisite 

 delicacy of their flesh. They always burrow deep in 

 the ground, and seldom stir out except in the night, 

 while in search of their food, which consists of roots, 

 fruits, and other vegetables. They are harmless, in- 

 offensive animals and often grow very fat. 



Of this kind of animal there are several varieties, 

 all of which are natives of South America, and no 

 species of it has ever been discovered in any part of 

 the old world, although it seems to bear without 



