SOUTH AMERICA. 



181 



On inspecting the arrangement of the shell, it puts you Third 



Journey. 



very much in mind of a coat of armour ; indeed it is a 



natural coat of armour to the Armadillo, and being com- 

 posed both of scale and bone, it affords ample security, 

 and has a pleasing effect. 



Often, when roving in the wilds, I would fall in with The land 



Tortoise. 



the land Tortoise ; he too adds another to the list of 

 unoffending animals ; he subsists on the fallen fruits of 

 the forest. When an enemy approaches he never thinks 

 of moving, but quietly draws himself under his shell, and 

 there awaits his doom in patience : he only seems to have 

 two enemies who can do him any damage ; one of these is 

 the Boa Constrictor : this snake swallows the Tortoise alive, 

 shell and all. But a Boa large enough to do this is very 

 scarce, and thus there is not much to apprehend from 

 that quarter ; the other enemy is man, who takes up the 

 Tortoise and carries him away. Man also is scarce in 

 these never-ending wilds, and the little depredations he 

 may commit upon the Tortoise will be nothing, or a 

 mere trifle. The tiger's teeth cannot penetrate its shell, 

 nor can a stroke of his paws do it any damage. It is of 

 so compact and strong a nature that there is a common 

 saying, a London waggon might roll over it and not 

 break it. 



Ere we proceed, let us take a retrospective view of the 

 five animals just enumerated ; they are all quadrupeds, 

 and have some very particular mark, or mode of existence. 



