268 
WANDERINGS IN 
FOURTH 
JOURNEY. 
The 
Gross- 
beak. 
misery there can be no doubt; but then, misery 
lias overtaken them in their path through life, and 
wherever man has come up with them, I should 
suppose they have seldom escaped from experiencing 
a certain proportion of misery. 
After fully satisfying myself that it only leads the 
world into error to describe the sloth while he is on 
the ground, or in any place except in a tree, I car¬ 
ried the one I had in my possession to his native 
haunts. As soon as he came in contact with the 
branch of a tree, all went right with him. I 
could see as he climbed up into his own country, 
that he was on the right road to happiness; and 
felt persuaded more than ever, that the world has 
hitherto erred in its conjectures concerning the sloth, 
on account of naturalists not having given a descrip¬ 
tion of him when he was in the only position in 
which he ought to have been described, namely, 
clinging to the branch of a tree. 
As the appearance of this part of the country 
bears great resemblance to Cayenne, and is so near 
to it, I was in hopes to have found the Grande 
Gobe Mouche of Bulfon, and the septicoloured 
Tangara, both of which are common in Cayenne; 
but after many diligent searches, I did not succeed ; 
nor could I learn from the Indians that they had 
ever seen those two species of birds in these parts. 
Here I procured the Gross-beak with a rich scar¬ 
let body, and black head and throat. Buffon men¬ 
tions it as coming from America. I had been in 
quest of it for years, but could never see it, and con- 
