THIRD JOURNEY. 



14^ 



Three species The ants have tlieir 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, measuring 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. Yf ith- 

 out 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. I^ature has formed his fore-legs 

 wonderfully 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. iSTor 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 vfithout food 

 than, perhaps, any other animal, excepting the land- 

 tortoise. His skin is of a texture that perfectly resists 



L 



