328 N A R R A T IV E O F A N
ch a)p. kiès not. excepted) arè better cîimbefSOn the-trees, where
. thefe creatures commit dreadful ravages amongft birda-
nefts, every fmall animall'which they ban conquer feat)
coming-their prey» In the poultry-ÿardï in'tpart-îêulâr
they commit great devaftations,- du which^aecopnm jévefy
contrivance that can hfi invented i s put in prance- to
destroy them.
As I am upon.the .fiibjçbt o f animals,..before. I leave
. the WQodsT-muft'defferibe another creatVrevwhi^inhabits
them, and which (though more: than- twites the. Jize lof
the laft) Jives chiefly on ànts ; this is the gfsùt atft^ea^r,:
or ant-bear, called alfo the f0aanmM, : and .by thejSpaniards
the 'vfa palmer a. The body o f this jantmpl J jgbcP-
I vered over with very long fliaggy hair; on the hack
and belly it is black, and on. the neck aniifldes: a grgyror
; yell©with -white ; the-, head is'êxtremely Jóng fthd' fleoder,
o f a light bay colotfr, with; Very .fmall. eyes ; the earsjare
fliort and round, and the.rmoufb^wbich has noieêth) Jhft
large enough to admit its tongue'; the tail is of anrpdpr-
mous fize, with very long black hair, fothèthing like &at
o f a horlej with thisextraonjinary tail* when afleep^-which
is generally,in the day time', or during 3, hard (hnwer p f
rain) the animal covers itfelf like a fqùkrej ; at other times
he trails it along, and fweeps the ground. The limbsar$‘
flender, hut covered with long hair ; the hindmoftïje g l‘
bging fhorteft and black, with five claws ; thofe before are
o f a dirty whiter with but -four claws, th.e two raifldile claws
•being o f .an extraordinary lengths
The
3f & tzâs
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