8 



WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



he has never hurt one living creature. A few leaves, 

 and those of the commonest and coarsest kind, are all 

 he asks for his support. On comparing him ivith other 

 animals, you would say that you could perceive defi- 

 ciency, deformity, and superahundance in his com- 

 position. He has no cutting teeth, and, though four 

 stomachs, he still wants the long intestines of rumi- 

 nating animals. He has only one inferior aperture, as 

 in hirds. He has no soles to his feet, nor has he the 

 power of moving his toes separately. His hair is flat, 

 and puts you in mind of grass withered hy the wintry 

 blast. His legs are too short; they appear deformed 

 by the manner in which they are joined to the body ; 

 and when he is on the ground, they seem as if only 

 calculated to be of use in climbing trees. He has 

 forty- six ribs, w^hile the elephant has only forty; and 

 his claws are disproportionably long. Were you to 

 mark down, upon a graduated scale, the different claims 

 to superiority amongst the four-footed animals, this 

 poor ill-formed creature's claim would be the last upon 

 the lowest degree. 



Demerara yields to no country in the world in her 

 ^ wonderful and beautiful productions of the 

 feathered race. Here the finest precious 

 stones are far surpassed by the vivid tints wdiich adorn 

 the birds. The naturalist may exclaim that nature has 

 not known where to stop in forming new species, and 

 painting her requisite shades. Almost every one of 

 those singular and elegant birds described by Buffon as 

 belonging to Cayenne, are to be met with in Demerara ; 

 but it is only by an indefatigable naturalist that they 

 are to be found. 



The scarlet carew breeds in innumerable quantities 



