f their roots
soon refix themselves in the earth, and frequently a strong shoot will
sprout out perpendicularly from near the root of the reclined trunk, and
in time become a fine tree. No grass grows under the trees; and few
weeds, except in the swamps.

The high grounds are pretty clear of underwood, and with a cutlass to
sever the small bush-ropes, it is not difficult walking among the trees.

The soil, chiefly formed by the fallen leaves and decayed trees, is very
rich and fertile in the valleys. On the hills it is little better than
sand. The rains seem to have carried away and swept into the valleys
every particle which nature intended to have formed a mould.

Four-footed animals are scarce, considering how very thinly these forests
are inhabited by men.

Several species of the animal commonly called tiger, though in reality it
approaches nearer to the leopard, are found here; and two of their
diminutives, named tiger-cats. The tapir, the labba, and deer, afford
excellent food, and chiefly frequent the swamps and low ground, near the
sides of the river and creeks.

In stating that four-footed animals are scarce, the peccary must be
excepted. Three or four hundred of them herd together, and traverse the
wilds in all directions, in quest of roots and fallen seeds. The Indians
mostly shoot them with poisoned arrows. When wounded, they run about one
hundred and fifty paces; they then drop, and make wholesome food.

The red monkey, erroneously called the baboon, is heard oftener than it
is seen; while the common brown monkey, the bisa, and sacawinki, rove
from tree to tree, and amuse the stranger as he journeys on.

A species of the polecat, and another of the fox, are destructive to the
Indian's poultry; while the opossum, the guana, and salempenta afford him
a delicious morsel.

The small ant-bear, and the large one, remarkable for its long, broad
bushy tail, are sometimes seen on the tops of the wood-ants' nests; the
armadillos bore in the sand-hills, like rabbits in a warren; and the
porcupine is now and then discovered in the trees over your head.

This, too, is the native country of the sloth. His looks, his gestures,
and his cries, all conspire to entreat you to take pity on him. These
are the only weapons of defence which nature has given him. While other
animals assemble in herds, or in pairs range through these boundless
wilds, the sloth is solitary, and almost stationary; he cannot escape