AFRICA. ^91 
and fet at liberty, advlfing him, however, not 
to appear again near any place where I was 
travelling. Refuming our way, vve arrived at 
the carap at an early hour. 
I found there a Kaminr^nnua chief, a man 
in years, with about tv.^enty of his people, vv^ho 
waited to pav his rel ,)e*ft s to me, and offer me 
a live ant-bear, which he had ju"- c^ueht. This 
animal, very difficult to be procured, aixd by no 
means common in cabinets of natural hi llorj^, 
hides itfelf in the ground, and hunts only by 
night. Like thofe of Guiana and other known 
countries, it lives entirely on ants. It attacks 
even the termites in their fubterranean retreats ; 
and nature has given it long broad claws^ a 
little crooked, both on the fore and hind feet^ 
with which it opens and breaks to pieces their 
nefts, and with which it digs its own burrow. 
In the fhape as v/ell as in the length of its 
tongue, which was fixteen inches, it refemblecl 
ant-bears in general ; but in other refpedts it 
differed from them, particularly in having a 
fmooth tail, and its body covered with Riff 
fhort hair. This animal, which is extreme- 
ly fat, is confidered by the Hottentots and 
planters as delicious foodj to which no other 
C c 4 cai^ 
