ARMADILLOS. 



1.59 



considerable amusement. She generally made 

 her way through the wood at a little distance 

 from the road, now and then returning to the 

 path. She was very expert in discovering the 

 tatu bola, or rolling tatu, a small species of arma- 

 dillo ; this animal is protected by its bony shell ; 

 on being touched, it rolls itself up in the manner 

 of the hedge-hog. As soon as the dog saw one 

 of these, she touched it with her nose, and 

 barked, continuing the same operation as often 

 as the armadillo attempted to move, until her 

 master answered the well-known signal. Several 

 were caught in this manner. The flesh is as fine 

 as that of a young pig. The tatu verdadeiro, or 

 legitimate armadillo, which is much larger, does 

 not roll itself up, and Mimoza sometimes pursued 

 it to its hole, and stood at the mouth of it, until 

 she had her master's permission to come away. 

 There exists a third species of armadillo, called 

 the tatu peba, which is said to feed upon human 

 flesh. 



On the 7th December, we arrived at ten 

 o'clock in the morning at the village of St. Luzia, 

 containing from two to three hundred inhabi- 

 tants. It is built in a square, and has one church ; 

 the houses are small and low. Here I was able 

 to replenish my spirit-bottles, and to purchase a 

 supply of rapaduras. These are cakes of brown 

 sugar or treacle, boiled to a sufficient consistency 

 to harden, by which means it is more portable, 



