48 
TRAVELS ON THE AMAZON. 
\_Aug2ist, 
a half inspirations per minute, and then settled down 
into silence, which it afterwards maintained, unless when 
disturbed or irritated. 
Though it was without food for more than a week, the 
birds we gave it were refused, even when alive. Kats 
are said to be their favourite food, but these we could 
not procure. These serpents are not at all uncommon, 
even close to the city, and are considered quite harmless. 
They are caught by pushing a large stick under them, 
when they twist round it, and their head being then 
cautiously seized and tied to the stick, they are easily 
carried home. Another interesting little animal was a 
young sloth, which Antonio, an Indian boy, who had 
enlisted himself in our service, brought alive from the 
forest. It was not larger than a rabbit, was covered 
with coarse grey and brown hair, and had a little round 
head and face resembling the human countenance quite 
as much as a monkey’s, but with a very sad and me- 
lancholy expression. It could scarcely crawl along the 
ground, but appeared quite at home on a chair, hanging 
on the back, legs, or rails. It was a most quiet, harm- 
less little animal, submitting to any kind of examination 
with no other manifestation of displeasure than a melan- 
choly whine. It slept hanging with its back downwards 
and its head between its fore-feet. Its favourite food is 
the leaf of the Cecropia peltata, of which it sometimes 
ate a little from a branch we furnished it with. After 
remaining with us three days, we found it dead in the 
garden, whither it had wandered, hoping no doubt to 
reach its forest home. It had eaten scarcely anything 
with us, and appeared to have died of hunger. 
