hree and a
half feet long. The tail alone, is one and a half feet in length. The
entire body, save the belly and paws, is covered with quills, which
absolutely hide the fur. Upon the back, where these quills are longest
(about four inches), they are strong, cylindrical, shining,
sharp-pointed, white at the tip and base, and blackish-brown in the
middle. The animal, in addition, has long and strong mustaches. The
paws, anterior and posterior, have four fingers armed with strong nails,
which are curved, and nearly cylindrical at the base.

Very little is known about the habits of the animal. All that we do know
is, that it passes the day in slumber at the top of a tree, and that it
prowls about at night, its food consisting chiefly of leaves of all
kinds. When it wishes to descend from one branch to another, it suspends
itself by the tail, and lets go of the first only when it has a firm
hold of the other.

One peculiarity is that the extremity of the dorsal part of the tail is
prehensile. This portion is deprived of quills for a length of about six
inches.

[Illustration]

The coendou does not like to be disturbed. When it is, it advances
toward the intruder, and endeavors to frighten him by raising its quills
all over its body. The natives of Central America eat its flesh and
employ its quills for various domestic purposes.

The animal is quite extensively distributed throughout South America. It
is found in Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Guiana, and in some of the
Lesser Antilles, such as Trinidad, Barbados, Saint Lucia, etc.

LITTLE QUEEN PET AND HER KINGDOM.

With these words the stranger vanished, and Pet trotted on her way
again, with the clock and key in her pocket.

She had not gone far till she began to notice a great many little cabins
and cottages about the country, which looked very bare and
uncomfortable. "Surely these must belong to the poor!" she thought; "and
I daresay that is a very poor man who is following the plough over in
that field."

She walked across the meadows until she reached the ploughman, and
having noticed that his clothing was very bad indeed, and that he looked
worn and sad, she formed her wish, and the next moment she was following
the plough as if she had been at it all her life. She had passed
completely into the man; there was not a vestige of her left outside of
him; she felt her hands quite hard and horny; she took great long steps
over the rough ground; she cried "Gee-