Chap. I. 
EVENING ON THE CAMPOS. 
57 
not immediately find a bough to grasp with the rigid 
hooks into which his paws are so curiously trans- 
formed, he raises his body, supported on his hind 
legs, and claws around in search of a fresh foothold. 
After watching the animal for about half an hour I 
gave him a charge of shot ; he fell with a terrific 
crash, but caught a bough, in his descent, with his 
powerful claws, and, remained suspended. Our Indian 
lad tried to climb the tree, but was driven back by 
swarms of stinging ants ; the poor little fellow slid down 
in a sad predicament, and plunged into the brook to 
free himself. Two days afterwards I found the body of 
the sloth on the ground : the animal having dropped 
on the relaxation of the muscles a few hours after 
death. In one of our voyages, Mr. Wallace and I saw 
a sloth (B. infuscatus) swimming across a river, at a 
place where it was probably 300 yards broad. I believe 
it is not generally known that this animal takes to the 
water. Our men caught the beast, cooked, and ate 
him. 
In returning from these trips we were sometimes be- 
nighted on the campos. We did not care for this on 
moonlit nights, when there was no danger of losing 
the path. The great heat felt in the middle hours of 
the day is much mitigated by four o'clock in the after- 
noon ; a few birds then make their appearance ; small 
flocks of ground doves run about the stony hillocks ; 
parrots pass over and sometimes settle in the ilhas ; 
pretty little finches of several species, especially one 
kind, streaked with olive-brown and yellow, and some- 
what resembling our yellow-hammer, but I believe not 
