NORTH AMERICA* 
iSi 
refemblance to the nails of the human fingers, five 
on the fore feet; the hind legs or feet appear as if 
truncated, or as flumps of feet, armed all round 
with fharp, flattifh ftrong nails, the number unde- 
termined or irregular ; the head is of a moderate 
fize ; the upper mandible a little hooked, the edges 
hard and fharp ; the eyes are large ; the nofe pick- 
ed; the noftrils near together and very minute;' 
the general colour of the a; imal is a liglft afh or 
clay, and at a diftance, unlefs it is in motion, any 
one would difregard or overlook it as a ftone or 
an old flump. It is aftbnifhing what a weight one 
of thefe creatures will bear ; it will eafily carry any 
man Handing on its back, on level ground. They 
form great and deep dens in the fand hills, cafting 
out incredible quantities of earth. They are efteem- 
ed excellent food. The eggs are larger than a 
mufket ball, perfectly round, and the {hell hard. 
After crofling over this point or branch of the 
marfhes, we entered a noble foreft, the land level, 
and the foil fertile, being a loofe, dark brown, coarfe 
fandy loam, on a clay or mariey foundation : the 
foreft confifled of orange groves, overtopped by 
grand magnolias, palms, live oaks, juglans cinerea, 
morus rubra, fagus fylvatica, tilia, and liquidan bar; 
with various kinds of fhrubs and herbaceous plants, 
particularly callicarpa, halefia, fambucus, zanthoxy- 
Ion, ptelea, rhamnus frangula, rudbeckia, filphi- 
um, polymnia, indigo fera, fophora, falvia graveo.^ 
lens, &c. We were cheerfully received in this 
hofpitable fhade, by various tribes of birds ; their 
fprightly fongs feemed a prelude to the vicinity of 
-fuman habitations. This magnificent grove was a 
wing of the vail forefls lying upon the coaft of the 
great and beautiful Jake of Cufcowilla, at no great 
N 3 diftance 
