THE COATIMONDI. S79 



CHAPTER XXL 



THE COATIMONDI. 



THE first peculiarity with which this animal strikes 

 the spectator, is the extreme length of its snout, 

 which in some measure resembles that of the hog, 

 but elongated to a surprising degree. It bears 

 some distant resemblance to the animal last de- 

 scribed, except that the neck and the body are 

 longer, the fur shorter, and the eyes smaller ; but 

 its principal distinction, as was said before, con- 

 sists in the shape of its nose, the upper jaw being 

 an inch longer than the lower, and the snout, 

 which is moveable in every division, turning up 

 at the end. Like the racoon, it sits up on the 

 hinder legs with great ease, and in this position, 

 with both paws, carries the food to its mouth. 



This animal is very subject to eat its own tail, 

 which is rather longer than its body; but this 

 strange appetite is not peculiar to the coati alone ; 

 the mococo, and some of the monkey kinds, do 

 the same, and seem to feel no pain in wounding a 

 part of the body so remote from the centre of 

 circulation. 



It seems possessed of the same playful qualities, 

 and indiscriminate appetites, with the animal de- 

 scribed in the last chapter. If left at liberty in a 

 state of tameness, it will pursue the poultry, and 

 destroy every living thing that it has strength to 

 conquer : though it is playful with its keeper, yet 





