SOUTH AMERICA. 
153 
ordered man to tread on the surface of the earth, the third 
JOURNEY. 
eagle to soar in the expanse of the skies, and the 
monkey and squirrel to inhabit the trees: still these 
may change their relative situations without feeling 
much inconvenience: but the sloth is doomed to 
spend his whole life in the trees; and, what is more 
extraordinary, not upon the branches, like the squirrel 
and the monkey, but under them. He moves sus¬ 
pended from the branch, he rests suspended from it, 
and he sleeps suspended from it. To enable him to 
do this, he must have a very different formation from 
that of any other known quadruped. 
Hence, his seemingly bungled conformation is at 
once accounted for; and in lieu of the sloth leading 
a painful life, and entailing a melancholy and miser¬ 
able existence on its progeny, it is but fair to surmise 
that it just enjoys life as much as any other animal, 
and that its extraordinary formation and singular 
habits are but further proofs to engage us to admire 
the wonderful works of Omnipotence. 
It must be observed, that the sloth does not hang 
head downwards like the vampire. When asleep, 
he supports himself from a branch parallel to the 
earth. He first seizes the branch with one arm, and 
then with the other; and after that, brings up both 
his legs, one by one, to the same branch; so that all 
four are in a line: he seems perfectly at rest in this 
position. Now, had he a tail, he would be at a loss 
to know what to do with it in this position : were he 
to draw it up within his legs, it would interfere with 
them; and were he to let it hang down, it would 
