The part which the aard vark plays in South Africa is taken in South America by the great ant-eater, or ant-bear, a creature about the same size, or even larger, and, if possible, of still more extraordinary appearance. It is something of the same general shape, but thinner and narrower, the fore legs are even more bowed, enormously powerful, and are armed with four curved claws so extremely long that the animal has to walk on them, for they turn inwards, instead of outwards like a dog’s. The snout is like a very long tube—next to the elephant’s, perhaps, it is the most elongated of any in the animal kingdom—and out of it a tongue of corresponding length is projected, which is always moist with a glutinous liquid, emitted from two large glands situated just below its root. Its body is covered with long, coarse hair, which is especially thick on the back, and becomes longer towards the hindquarters, till on the tail, which is immense, it is like a great flowing mane. This huge tail, which is not only long, but broad, can be turned right over the animal’s back, so as to make a great umbrella, or canopy, under which it is said sometimes to walk. Whether it really walks with it held in this way, I do not know. I have not seen it do so at the Zoological Gardens; but there it is under cover, and the ant-eater is said to put its tail to the use of a real umbrella. When it sleeps, however, it, as it were, curls itself up in it, and is thus concealed, or perhaps protected from a sudden assault. Waterton says of the ant-eater: “Without swiftness to enable him to escape from his enemies, without teeth, the possession of which would assist him in self-defence, and without the power of burrowing in the ground, by which he might conceal himself from his pursuers, he still is capable of ranging through these wilds in perfect safety, nor does he fear the fatal pressure of the serpent’s fold, or the teeth of the famished jaguar. Nature has formed his fore legs wonderfully thick and strong and muscular, and armed his feet with three tremendous, sharp and crooked claws. Whenever he seizes an animal with these formidable weapons, he hugs it close to his body and keeps it there till it dies through pressure or through want of food. Nor does the ant-bear, in the meantime, suffer much from loss of aliment, as it is a well-known fact that he can go longer without food than, perhaps, any other animal, except the land-tortoise.”[9]