tphalian."

Hans knew the taste of those hams--well he did, and so too Swartboy; and
it was not against his inclination, but _con amore_, that the latter set
about butchering the "goup."

Swartboy knew how precious a morsel he held between his
fingers,--precious, not only on account of its intrinsic goodness, but
from its rarity; for although the aard-vark is a common animal in South
Africa, and in some districts even numerous, it is not every day the
hunter can lay his hands upon one. On the contrary, the creature is most
difficult to capture; though not to kill, for a blow on the snout will
do that.

But just as he is easily killed when you catch him, in the same
proportion is he hard to catch. He is shy and wary, scarce ever comes
out of his burrow but at night; and even then skulks so silently along,
and watches around him so sharply, that no enemy can approach without
his knowing it. His eyes are very small, and, like most nocturnal
animals, he sees but indifferently; but in the two senses of smell and
hearing he is one of the sharpest. His long erect ears enable him to
catch every sound that may be made in his neighbourhood, however slight.

The "aard-vark" is not the only ant-eating quadruped of South Africa.
There is another four-footed creature as fond of white ants as he; but
this is an animal of very different appearance. It is a creature without
hair; but instead, its body is covered all over with a regular coat of
scales, each as large as a half-crown piece. These scales slightly
overlie each other, and can be raised on end at the will of the animal.
In form it resembles a large lizard, or a small crocodile, more than an
ordinary quadruped, but its habits are almost exactly like those of the
aard-vark. It burrows, digs open the ant-hills by night, projects a long
viscous tongue among the insects, and devours them with avidity.

When suddenly overtaken, and out of reach of its underground retreat, it
"clews" up like the hedgehog, and some species of the South American
armadillos--to which last animal it bears a considerable resemblance on
account of its scaly coat of mail.

This ant-eater is known as the "pangolin," or "manis," but there are
several species of "pangolin" not African. Some are met with in Southern
Asia and the Indian islands. That which is found in South Africa is
known among naturalists as the "long-tailed" or "Tem-minck" pangolin
(_Manis Temminckii_).

Totty soon produced a roasted