168 
WANDERINGS IN 
THIRD 
JOURNEY. 
TheLand- 
tortoise. 
being composed both of scale and bone, it affords 
ample security, and lias a pleasing effect. 
Often, when roving in the wilds, I would fall in 
with the land tortoise; he too adds another to the 
list of unoffending animals; he subsists on the fallen 
fruits of the forest. When an enemy approaches he 
never thinks of moving, but quietly draws himself 
under his shell, and there awaits his doom in pa¬ 
tience : he only seems to have two enemies who can 
do him any damage; one of these is the boa con¬ 
strictor : this snake swallows the tortoise alive, shell 
and all. But a boa large enough to do this is very 
scarce, and thus there is not much to apprehend from 
that quarter; the other enemy is man, who takes up 
the tortoise, and carries him away. Man also is 
scarce in these never-ending wilds, and the little de¬ 
predations he may commit upon the tortoise will be 
nothing, or a mere trifle. The tiger’s teeth cannot 
penetrate its shell, nor can a stroke of his paws do 
it any damage. It is of so compact and strong a 
nature, that there is a common saying, a London 
waggon might roll over it and not break it. 
Ere we proceed, let us take a retrospective view 
of the five animals just enumerated; they are all 
quadrupeds, and have some very particular mark, or 
mode of existence, different from all other animals. 
The sloth has four feet, but never can use them to 
support his body on the earth; they want soles, 
which are a marked feature in the feet of other 
animals. The ant-bear has not a tooth in his head, 
still he roves fearless on, in the same forests with the 
