not escaped altogether free. I had received two or three ugly pecks
from the birds' beaks, which had torn my flesh, the wounds now smarting
considerably; while Arthur had fared even worse, two of them having made
rents in his shirt, and pecked out three or four pieces of his flesh.

Having rested, we now began to make our way back to our friends; but I
had not gone far when I caught sight of a large hairy creature hanging
on to a bough at no great distance, apparently watching us as we made
our way amid the branches.

"O Arthur!" I exclaimed, "there's a bear. He will be down upon us, and
treat us much worse than the macaws have done."

Arthur looked in the direction I pointed. "Don't be afraid," he
answered. "It will not attack us. The animal is a sloth, as harmless
as any living creature. We may consider him among the other beasts in
our domain destined if necessary for our use. He cannot get away, so we
will not attempt to interfere with him at present. He will not venture
into the water; and even had we ground below us, he would not descend,
as he would be sure to be caught if he did. We will climb nearer, so as
to get a better view of him, for he seems to have no dread of us, and
will not try to escape."

We did as Arthur proposed, and found the creature had a short head, with
a small round face, and was covered with coarse, shaggy hair, looking
very much like withered grass. It had powerful claws and long arms,
with which it clung to the branch; while its hinder legs, which were
half the length of the others, had feet of peculiar formation, which
enabled it to hold on to the bough. In truth, we discerned what we had
before heard, that the sloth is especially formed to live in trees--
though not on the branches, like the squirrel, but under them; indeed,
it generally moves suspended from the branch, and at night, when
sleeping, rests in the same attitude, under the branch, hanging on by
its powerful arms and legs. Its arms being very long and powerful, with
strong claws instead of fingers, it is enabled to defend itself against
the large snakes which frequently attack it. We could only hope that it
was not alone, and that should we require sloth-steaks we might be able
to have an ample supply. We had no fears, indeed, about obtaining as
much animal food as we might require, though it was possible that we
might, before we could escape, eat up all the food to be found in our
domain.

At length we