Wanderings in South America, the north-west of the United States and the Antilles, 1812, 1816, 1820 and 1824, with instructions for the perfect preservation of birds, etc., for cabinets of natural history / by Charles Waterton, Esq.

  • Waterton, Charles, 1782-1865.
Date:
1825
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Wanderings in South America, the north-west of the United States and the Antilles, 1812, 1816, 1820 and 1824, with instructions for the perfect preservation of birds, etc., for cabinets of natural history / by Charles Waterton, Esq. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    First Journey. The sloth. found here; and two of their diminutives, named tiger cats. The tapir, the lobba, 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 peccari 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 journies 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 his long, broad, bushy tail, are sometimes seen on the tops of the wood ants’ nests ; the armadillas bore in the sand hills, like rabbits in a warren ; and the porcu- pine 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