398 THE ANT-BEAR. 



it seems obstinately bent against receiving any 

 instruction, and neither threats nor caresses can 

 induce it to practise any arts to which it is not 

 naturally inclined. When it sleeps, it rolls itself 

 up in a lump, and in that position often continues 

 for fourteen or fifteen hours together. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



THE ANT-BEAR. 



THERE are many animals that live upon ants in 

 Africa and America ; the pangolin, or scaly lizard 

 of Guinea, may be considered among this num- 

 ber ; but there are a greater variety in America, 

 which make those minute insects their only sub- 

 sistence. Though they are of different figures 

 and sizes, yet in general they go under one com- 

 mon name pf the Ant-Bear ; the peculiar length 

 and slenderness of their snout, their singular ap- 

 petites, and their manner of taking their prey, 

 striking us too strongly to attend to the minute 

 differences of their size or form. 



They have been classed by M. BufTon into the 

 larger Tamandua, the smaller Tamandua, and 

 the Ant-eater. The largest of this kind is four 

 feet long, from the tip of the snout to the inser- 

 tion of the tail ; their legs are short, and armed 

 with four strong claws ; their tail is long and 

 tufted, and the animal often throws it on its 



