484 THE TROPICAL WORLD. 



wheeled with the rapidity of lightning, and on being assailed 

 from several quarters at once, threw itself on its back, and des- 

 perately fighting with its fore-legs, uttered at the same time 

 an angry growl of defiance. In fact the ant-bear is so formid- 

 able an opponent that he is said not unfrequently to vanquish 

 even the jaguar, the lord of the American forests, for the latter 

 is often found swimming in his blood, with ripped-up bowels, a 

 wound which, of all the beasts of the wilderness, the claws of 

 the ant-bear are alone able to inflict. 



On seizing an animal with these powerful weapons, he hugs 

 it close to his body, and keeps it there till it dies through 

 pressure or hunger. Nor does the ant-bear, in the meantime, 

 suffer much from want of aliment, as it is a well known fact 

 that he can remain longer without food than perhaps any otlier 

 quadruped, so that there is very little chance indeed of a 

 weaker animal's escaping from his clutches. 



Peaceable and harmless, the ant-bear when unprovoked never 

 thinks of attacking any other creature ; and as his interests and 

 pursuits do not interfere with those of the more formidable 

 denizens of the wilderness, he would, without doubt, attain a 

 good old age, and be allowed to die in peace, if, unfortunately for 

 him, his delicate flesh did not provoke the attacks of the large 

 carnivora and man. To be sure, the Indian fears his claws, 

 and never ventures to approach the wounded ant-bear until he 

 has breathed his last ; nor can he be hunted with dogs, as his 

 skin is of a texture that perfectly resists a bite, and his hinder 

 parts are effectually protected by thick and shaggy hair ; yet, 

 armed with the wourali poison, the wild hunters know how to 

 paralyse in a few minutes his muscular powers, and to stretch 

 him dead upon the earth. They have also recourse to strata- 

 gem for the animal's destruction, for during rain it turns its 

 long bushy tail up over its back and stands still. Knowing 

 this, the Indians when they meet with one, rustle the leaves,, 

 and it thinks rain is falling, and turning up its tail, they take 

 the opportunity of killing it by a blow on the head with a 

 stick. 



A perfect forest vagabond, the ant-bear has no den to retire 

 to, nor any fixed abode ; his immense tail is large enough to 

 cover his whole body, and serves him as a tent during the 

 night, or as a waterproof mantle against the rains of the wet 



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