170 WANDERINGS IN 



THIRD brings up both his less, one by one, to the same 



JOURNEY. ' 



branch ; so that all four are in a line : he seems 



perfectly at rest in this position. Now, had he 

 a tail, he would be at a loss to know what to 

 do with it in this position : were he to draw 

 it up within his legs, it would interfere with 

 them ; and were he to let it hang down, it would 

 become the sport of the winds. Thus his defi- 

 ciency of tail is a benefit to him; it is merely 

 an apology for a tail, scarcely exceeding an inch 

 and a half in length. 



I observed, when he was climbing, he never 

 used his arms both together, but first one and 

 then the other, and so on alternately. There is 

 a singularity in his hair, different from that of all 

 other animals, and, I believe, hitherto unnoticed 

 by naturalists ; his hair is thick and coarse at the 

 extremity, and gradually tapers to the root, where 

 it becomes fine as a spider's web. His fur has so 

 much the hue of the moss which grows on the 

 branches of the trees, that it is very difficult to 

 make him out when he is at rest. 



The male of the three-toed sloth has a longi- 

 tudinal bar of very fine black hair on his back, 

 rather lower than the shoulder-blades ; on each 

 side of this black bar there is a space of yellow 

 hair, equally fine ; it has the appearance of being 

 pressed into the body, and looks exactly as if 

 it had been singed. If we examine the anatomy 

 of his fore-legs, we shall immediately perceive by 



