86 THE SLOTH. 



ground, the Sloth is an exception to this rule, and that his 

 history must be written while he is in the tree. 



" This singular animal is destined by nature to be pro- 

 duced, to live, and to die, in the trees ; and, to do justice to 

 him, naturalists must examine him in his upper element. 

 He is a scarce and solitary animal, and, being good food, 

 he is never allowed to escape. He inhabits remote and 

 gloomy forests, where snakes take up their abode, and 

 where cruelly stinging ants and scorpions, and swamps, 

 and innumerable thorny shrubs and bushes, obstruct the 

 steps of civilized man. Were you to draw your own con- 

 clusions from the descriptions which have been given of 

 the Sloth, you would probably suspect that no naturalist 

 had actually gone into the wilds with the fixed determina- 

 tion to find him out and examine his haunts, and see whe- 

 ther Nature has committed any blunder in the formation of 

 this extraordinary creature, which appears to us so forlorn 

 and miserable, so ill put together, and so totally unfit to 

 enjoy the blessings which have been so bountifully given to 

 the rest of animated nature ; for, as it has formerly been 

 remarked, he has no soles to his feet, and he is evidently 

 ill at ease when he tries to move on the ground ; and it is 

 then that he looks up in your face with a countenance that 

 says, ' Have pity on me. for I am in pain and sorrow.' 



" It mostly happens that Indians and negroes are the 

 people who catch the Sloth, and bring it to the white man. 

 Hence it may be conjectured that the erroneous accounts 

 we have hitherto had of the Sloth have not been penned 

 down with the slightest intention to mislead the reader, or 

 give him an exaggerated history, but that these errors have 

 naturally arisen by examining the Sloth in those places 

 where Nature never intended that he should be exhibited. 

 "However, we are now in his own domain. Man but 

 little frequents these dark and noble forests, which extend 

 far and wide on every side of us. This, then, is the proper 



