

WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 231 



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 tor- 

 toise, 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 penetrate 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 particular 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 constrictor. The vampire does not make 

 use of his feet to walk, but to stretch a membrane, which 

 enables him to go up into an element where no other 

 quadruped is seen. The armadillo has only here and there 

 a straggling hair, and has neither fur, nor wool, nor bristles, 

 but in lieu of them has received a movable shell, on which 

 are scales very much like those of fishes. The tortoise is 

 oviparous, entirely without any appearance of hair, and is 

 obliged to accommodate itself to a shell which is quite hard 

 and inflexible, and in no point of view whatever obedient to 

 the will or pleasure of the bearer. The egg of the tortoise 

 has a very hard shell, while that of the turtle is quite soft. 



