274 MAMMALIA— ANT-EATER. 



Amongst the foremost of these stand the three species of ant-bears. The 

 smallest is not much larger than a rat ; the next is nearly the size of a fox ; 

 and the third, a stout and powerful animal, measuring about six feet from 

 the snout to the end of the tail. He is the most inoffensive of all animals, 

 and never injures the property of man. He is chiefly found in the inmost 

 recesses of the forest, and seems partial to the low and swampy parts near 

 creeks, where the Troely tree grows. There he goes up and down in quest 

 of ants, of which there is never the least scarcity; so that he soon obtains a 

 sufficient supply of food with very little trouble. He cannot travel fast; 

 man is superior to him in speed. Without swiftness to enable him to 

 escape from his enemies, without teeth, the possession of which would assist 

 him in self-defence, and without the power of burrowing in the ground, by 

 which he might conceal himself from his pursuers, he is still capable of 

 ranging through these v/Ms in perfect safety ; nor does he fear the fatal 

 pressure of the serpent's fold, nor the teeth of the famished jaguar. Nature 

 has formed his fore legs wonderfully thick, strong and muscular, and armed 

 his feet with three tremendous sharp and crooked claws. Whenever he seizes 

 an animal with these formidable weapons, he hugs it close to his body, and 

 keeps it there till it dies through pressure, or want of food. Nor does the 

 ant-bear, in the mean time, suffer from want of aliment, as it is a well known 

 fact, that he can go longer without food than perhaps any other animal, 

 ■except the land tortoise. His skin is of a texture that perfectly resists the 

 bite of a dog : his hinder parts are protected by thick and shaggy hair, 

 while his immense tail is large enough to cover his whole body. 



" The Indians have a great dread of coming in contact with the ant-bear ; 

 and after disabling him in the chase, they never think of approaching him 

 till he is quite dead. It is perhaps on account of this caution, that natural- 

 ists have never yet given to the world a true and correct drawing of this 

 singular animal, or described the peculiar position of his fore feet Avhen he 

 walks or stands. If, in taking a drawing from a dead ant-bear, you judge 

 of the position in which he stands from that of all other terrestrial animals, 

 the sloth excepted, you will be in error. Examine only a figure of this 

 animal, in books of natural history, or inspect a stuffed specimen in the 

 best museums, and you will see that the fore claws are just in the same 

 forward attitude as those of a dog, or a common bear, when he walks or 

 stands. But this would be an intolerable attitude for the ant-bear. The 

 length and curve of his claws cannot admit of such a position. When he 

 walks or stands, his feet have somewhat the appearance of clubhands. He 

 goes entirely on the outer side of his fore feet, which are quite bent inwards ; 

 the claws collected into a point, and going under the foot. In this position 

 he is quite at ease ; while his long claws are disposed of in a manner to 

 render them harmless to him, and are prevented from becoming dull and 

 worn, like those of the dog, which would inevitably be the case, did their 

 points come in actual contact with the ground ; for his claws have not the 



