ANIMALS. 3G3 



the ants, keeps it for some time quite immovable. These liltlu 

 animals, allured by its appearance, and the unctuous substance 

 with which it is smeared, instantly gather upon it in great num- 

 bers ; and when the pangolin supposes a sufficiency, it quickly 

 withdraws the tongue, and swallows them at once. This pecu- 

 liar manner of hunting for its prey is repeated, either till it be 

 satisfied, or till the ants, grown more cautious, will be allured 

 to their destruction no longer. It is against these noxious in- 

 sects, therefore, that its only force or cunning is exerted ; and 

 were the negroes but sufficiently sensible of its utility in destroy- 

 ing one of the greatest pests to their country, they would not be 

 so eager to kill it. But it is the nature of savage men to pur- 

 sue the immediate good, without being solicitous about the more 

 distant benefit they remove. They, therefore, hunt this animal 

 with the utmost avidity for its flesh ; and as it is slow, and un- 

 able to escape in an open place, they seldom fail of destroying it. 

 However, it chiefly keeps in the most obscure parts of the forest, 

 and digs itself a retreat in the clefts of rocks, where it brings 

 forth its young, so that it is but rarely met with, and continues 

 a solitary species, and an extraordinary instance of the varying 

 of nature. 



Of this animal, there is a variety which is called the pha- 

 TAGiN, much less than the former, being not above a foot long 

 from the head to the tail, with shells differently formed, with its 

 belly, breast, and throat covered with hair, instead of a smooth 

 skin, as in the former : but that by which it is peculiarly distin- 

 guished, is the extent of its tail, which is above twice the length 

 of its body. Both are found in the warm latitudes of the East, 

 as well as in Africa ; and, as their numbers are but few, it is to 

 be supposed their fecundity is not great. 



THE ARMADILLO, OR TATOU. 



Having mentioned quadrupeds of the ancient continent 

 covered with scales, we come next to quadrupeds of the new 

 continent covered with shells. It would seem that Nature had 

 reserved all the wonders of her power for these remote and 

 thinly inhabited countries, where the men are savage, and the 

 quadrupeds various. It would seem that she becomes more ex- 

 traordinary in proportion as she retires from human inspection. 



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