144 



WANDERINGS IN SOUTH AMERICA. 



of the new world. Thougli naturalists have made no 

 mention of what follows, still it is not less true on that 

 account. The sloth is the only quadruped known 

 which spends its whole life from the branch of a tree, 

 suspended by his feet. I have paid uncommon attention 

 to him in his native haunts. The monkey and squirrel 

 will seize a branch with their fore-feet, and pull them- 

 selves up, and rest or run upon it ; but the sloth, after 

 seizing it, still remains suspended, and suspended moves 

 along under the branch, till he can lay hold of another. 

 Whenever I have seen him in his native woods, whether 

 at rest, or asleep, or on his travels, I have always ob- 

 served that he was suspended from the branch of a tree. 

 When his form and anatomy are attentively considered, 

 it will appear evident that the sloth cannot be at ease 

 in any situation, where his body is higher, or above his 

 feet. We will now take our leave of him. 



In the far-extending wilds of Guiana, the 

 traveller will be astonished at the immense 

 quantity of ants which he perceives on the ground and 

 in the trees. They have nests in the branches, four or 

 five times as large as that of the rook ; and they have 

 a covered way from them to the ground. In this 

 covered way thousands are perpetually passing and 

 repassing; and if you destroy part of it, they turn to, 

 and immediately repair it. 



Other species of ants again have no covered way ; but 

 travel, exposed to view, upon the surface of the earth. 

 You will sometimes see a string of these ants a mile 

 long, each 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. 



