SOUTH AMERICA. 165 

 to inhabit the trees : still these may change their relative Third 



Journey. 



situations without feeling much inconvenience : but 



the Sloth is doomed to spend his whole life in the 

 trees ; and, what is more extraordinary, not upon the 

 branches, like the squirrel and the monkey, but under 

 them. He moves suspended from the branch, he rests 

 suspended from it, and he sleeps suspended from it. 

 To enable him to do this, he must have a very different 

 formation from that of any other known quadruped. 



Hence, his seemingly bungled conformation is at once 

 accounted for ; and in lieu of the Sloth leading a pain- 

 ful life, and entailing a melancholy and miserable exist- 

 ence on its progeny, it is but fair to smmise that it just 

 enjoys life as much as any other animal, and that its 

 extraordinary formation and singular habits are but fur- 

 ther proofs to engage us to admire the Avonderful works 

 of Omnipotence. 



It must be observed, that the Sloth does not hang 

 head -downwards like the vampire. When asleep, he 

 supports himself from a branch parallel to the earth. 

 He first seizes the branch with one arm, and then with 

 the other ; and after that, brings up both his legs, one 

 by one, to the same branch ; so that all four are in a 

 line : he seems perfectly at rest in this position. Now, 

 had he a tail, he would be at a loss to know what to do 

 with it in this position : were he to draw it up within 

 his legs, it would interfere with them ; and were he to let 



