ANIMALS. 367 



figure the himters carry them home. If, however, the armadillo 

 be near a precipice, it often escapes by rolling itself up, and then 

 tumbling down from rock to rock, without the least danger or 

 inconvenience. They are sometimes taken in snares laid for 

 them by the sides of rivers and low moist places, which they 

 particularly frequent ; and this method, in general, succeeds bet- 

 ter than any of the former, as their burrows are very deep, and 

 they seldom stir out except in the night. At no time are they 

 found at any great distance from their retreats, so that it re- 

 quires some patience and skill to intercept their retreat. 



There are scarcely any of these that do not root the ground 

 like a hog, in search of such roots as make a principal part of 

 their food. They live also upon melons and other succulent 

 vegetables, and all will eat flesh when they can get it. They 

 frequent water and watery places, where they feed upon worms, 

 small fish, and water insects. It is pretended that there is a 

 kind of friendship between them and the rattle-snake, that they 

 live peaceably and commodiously together, and are frequently 

 found in the same hole. This, however, may be a friendship ot 

 necessity to the armadillo ; the rattle-snake takes possession of 

 its retreats, which neither are willing to quit, while each is in- 

 capable of injuring the other. 



As to the rest, these animals, though they all resemble each 

 other in the general character of being clothed with a shell, yet 

 differ a good deal in their size, and in the parts into which their 

 shell is divided. The first of this kind, which has but three 

 bands between the two large pieces that cover the back, is called 

 the TATU APARA. I wiU not enter into an exact description of its 

 figure, which, how well written soever, no imagination could 

 exactly conceive ; and the reader would be more fatigued to un- 

 derstand, than I to write it. The tail is shorter in this than 

 any other kind, being not more than two inches long, while the 

 shell, taking all the pieces together, is a foot long, and eight 

 inches broad. The second is the tatou of Ray, or the encou- 

 UKRT of Buffon ; this is distinguished from the rest by six bands 

 across the back ; it is about the size of a pig of a month old, 

 with a small long head and a very long tail. The third is the 

 TATUETTE, furnished with eight bands, and not by a great deal so 

 big as the former. Its tail is longer also, and its legs shorter in 

 proportion. Its body from the nose to the insertion of the tail, 



