The great antrëafer is a vary bad 'walker, refting always c h a p
on the h&ehbf his' awkward long feet, like the coati and XXViii.
bear ;' but he is a better climber, and fb good a fighter,
that no do'gwiil hunt him, fince whatever animal he
öatchèê between ‘fes ïfo fé 'claws (nay even the jaguar or
tiger) he will not relekfe while he has* life. His food, as
I havé' laid, èbnfifts o f‘ants,which he takes in the following
manner-:—'when he cbmfe's'to arraiit-hillock, he unfolds
•his'-Render tonghfej which 'is1 about twenty inches dong,
molt •exa&lyTefembling a worm; this being covered
over with a’ clammy matter or faliva, the ants get upon
iPdr! Sgreaf numbers, and by drawirig it into his mouth,
•hëüvallcws'thcmfands all1 •alive, and renews the operation,
till, ho mor%rare to be found, when he marches in queft
o f another mountain, and in thé fame manner deftroys
the unwary inhabitants. I He alfo climbs in queft o f wood-
lièê and wild honey; but' ftiould he meet with little fuc-
cëfs in his~ devaluations, -he is able to faft a confiderable
time without the' fmalleft inconvenience. It is faid that
the great ant-bear is tameable, and that then he will pick
crumbs o f bread, and fmall pieces o f flefh; alfo that
when killed, he affords good food to the Indians and negroes,
the laft o f which I have feen devour his flefh with
pleafure, Some ant-bears meafure, from the fnout to the
tip o f the tail, nö lefs than eight feet.— See the two laft-
defcribed animals in the plate annexed.
A fmall ffpecies of ant-bear, called the taniandua, is
alfo found in Surinam, though not very common. This
V o l . II. ' IJ u differs -