230 QUADRUPEDS COVERED 



as their burrows are very deep, and they seldom 

 stir out, except in the night. ' At no time are 

 they found at any great distance from their re- 

 treats, so that it requires some patience and skill 

 to intercept their retreat. 



There are scarcely any of these that do not 

 root the ground like a hog, in search of such 

 roots as make a principal part of their food. 

 They live also upon melons and other succulent 

 vegetables, and all will eat flesh when they can 

 get it. They frequent water and watery places, 

 where they feed upon worms, small fish, and 

 water insects. It is pretended that there is a 

 kind of friendship between them and the rattle- 

 snake, that they live peaceably and commodiously 

 together, and are frequently found in the same 

 hole. This, however, may be a friendship of ne- 

 cessity to the armadillo; the rattle-snake takes 

 possession of its retreats, which neither are will- 

 ing to quit, while each is incapable of injuring 

 the other. 



As to the rest, these animals, though they all 

 resemble each other in the general character of 

 being clothed with a shell, yet differ a good deal 

 in their size, and in the parts into which their 

 shell is divided. The first of this kind, which 

 has but three bands between the two large pieces 

 that cover the back, is called the Tatu Apara. 

 I will not enter into an exact description of its 

 figure, which, how well written soever, no ima- 

 gination could exactly conceive, and the reader 

 would be more fatigued to understand than I 

 to write it. The tail is shorter in this than any 



