WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 223 



carrying in its mouth to its nest a green leaf, the size of a 

 sixpence. It is wonderful to observe the order in which 

 they move, and with what pains and labour they surmount 

 the obstructions of the path. 



The ants have their enemies, as well as the rest of 

 animated nature. 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, measuiing 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 still is capable of ranging 

 through these wilds in perfect safety ; nor does he fear the 

 fatal pressure of the serpent's fold, or the teeth of the 

 famished jaguar. Nature has formed his fore-legs wonder- 

 fully thick, and 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 through want of food. Nor does the ant-bear, 

 in the meantime, suffer much from loss 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 



