THE RATEL AND COATIMONDI. 109 
its great claws, puts them through the bars 
next to its neighbour, bending its paw to 
give it the utmost strength, and waiting till 
the equally great claws of the Coatimondi 
have either managed to secure some part of 
the prize, or till the whole, clawed to pieces, 
has fallen to the ground, and become lost to 
both. The manner and look of the Ratel, 
in the mean time, are the most striking and 
expressive imaginable. The Coatimondi ap- 
pears to receive the gift like a mere animal ; 
but the Ratel has the air of a patron or be- 
nefactor, and seems acutely alive to the suc- 
cess of his efforts in behalf of the Coatimondi. 
The action is precisely the same, as if one 
neighbour out of his own window, were 
using the fullest bodily exertion to convey 
to the adjoining window of another neigh- 
bour, a loaf, or a basket of fruit, and pa- 
tiently and earnestly striving and holding the 
gift, till his neighbour, whom he could not 
see, had securely grasped it. What increases 
the appearance of kindness upon the part of 
the Ratel, is the fact, that the food is of a 
kind quite as agreeable to itself as to the 
Coatimondi, since, after many gifts to the 
L, 
