152 
WANDERINGS IN 
THIRD 
JOUR'S e y 
floor of glass, or of a polished surface, the sloth 
would actually be quite stationary ; but as the ground 
is generally rough, with little protuberances upon it, 
such as stones, or roots of grass, &c. this just suits 
the sloth, and he moves his fore-legs in all directions, 
in order to find something to lay hold of; and when 
he has succeeded, he pulls himself forward, and is 
thus enabled to travel onwards, but at the same time 
in so tardy and awkward a manner, as to acquire 
him the name of Sloth. 
Indeed his looks and his gestures evidently betray 
his uncomfortable situation; and as a sigh every now 
and then escapes him, we may be entitled to con¬ 
clude that he is actually in pain. 
Some years ago I kept a sloth in my room for 
several months. I often took him out of the house 
and placed him upon the ground, in order to have an 
opportunity of observing his motions. If the ground 
were rough, he would pull himself forwards, by 
means of his fore-legs, at a pretty good pace; and 
he invariably immediately shaped his course towards 
the nearest tree. But if I put him upon a smooth 
and well-trodden part of the road, he appeared to be 
in trouble and distress : his favourite abode was the 
back of a chair; and after getting all his legs in a 
line upon the topmost part of it, he would hang there 
for hours together, and often, with a low and inward 
cry, would seem to invite me to take notice of him. 
The sloth, in its wild state, spends its whole life 
in trees, and never leaves them but through force, 
or by accident. An all-ruling Providence has 
