68 Through the Brazilian Wilderness 



black object, very conspicuous against the vivid green. 

 It was a giant ant-eater, or tamandua bandeira, one of 

 the most extraordinary creatures of the latter-day world. 

 It is about the size of a rather small black bear. It has 

 a very long, narrow, toothless snout, with a tongue it 

 can project a couple of feet; it is covered with coarse, 

 black hair, save for a couple of white stripes; it has a 

 long, bushy tail and very powerful claws on its fore feet. 

 It walks on the sides of its fore feet with these claws 

 curved in under the foot. The claws are used in digging 

 out ant-hills ; but the beast has courage, and in a grapple 

 is a rather unpleasant enemy, in spite of its toothless 

 mouth, for it can strike a formidable blow with these 

 claws. It sometimes hugs a foe, gripping him tight ; but 

 its ordinary method of defending itself is to strike with 

 its long, stout, curved claws, which, driven by its mus- 

 cular forearm, can rip open man or beast. Several of 

 our companions had had dogs killed by these ant-eaters; 

 and we came across one man with a very ugly scar down 

 his back, where he had been hit by one, which charged 

 him when he came up to kill it at close quarters. 



As soon as we saw the giant tamandua we pushed off 

 in a rowboat, and landed only a couple of hundred yards 

 distant from our clumsy quarry. The tamandua through- 

 out most of its habitat rarely leaves the forest, and it is 

 a helpless animal in the open plain. The two dogs ran 

 ahead, followed by Colonel Rondon and Kermit, with 

 me behind carrying the rifle. In a minute or two the 

 hounds overtook the cantering, shuffling creature, and 

 promptly began a fight with it ; the combatants were so 

 mixed up that I had to wait another minute or so before 



