. Crusoe's Island; a bird-hunter's story . and when the animal saw me it just rolled itself upin its shell, like a scaly ball, and bounced down thehill at a rapid rate. When I arrived at the placewhere it had stopped rolling, expecting to be able toget hold of it (as it is a slow runner), I found nothingbut a mound of fresh dirt, beneath which the arma-dillo was digging into the bowels of the earth muchfaster than I could hope to dig it out. As you know, of course, the armadillo is com-pletely incased in a suit of armor which renders itunassailable to ordinary animals ; it has a long, pointeds
. Crusoe's Island; a bird-hunter's story . and when the animal saw me it just rolled itself upin its shell, like a scaly ball, and bounced down thehill at a rapid rate. When I arrived at the placewhere it had stopped rolling, expecting to be able toget hold of it (as it is a slow runner), I found nothingbut a mound of fresh dirt, beneath which the arma-dillo was digging into the bowels of the earth muchfaster than I could hope to dig it out. As you know, of course, the armadillo is com-pletely incased in a suit of armor which renders itunassailable to ordinary animals ; it has a long, pointedsnout, strong sharp claws, and a general make-up thatparticularly fits it for digging. It must be a smartdog that can catch up with one, once it has got thosestrong fore-feet at work ; and even with shovels and 210 CRUSOES ISLAND. spades it is next to impossible to unearth one. It iswary too, as well as strong, and frequently, while thepursuer is hard upon its heels, the armadillo will sud-denly counter upon him and dig back again and bur-. The armadillo. Eolled up. row beneath the loose earth thrown out in digging,thus completely outflanking the expectant digger ! Notwithstanding its skill in eluding the hunter,Thomas Ned soon had a pen full of armadillos andagoutis, over which he used to linger much of hisspare time—not so much, I fear, from love of theanimals themselves, as of their flesh in prospectivebanquet. The armadillo was not an obtrusive ortroublesome animal, as its food was mainly insectiv-orous—beetles, grubs, worms—which it hunted bynight and retired to digest in its hole by day. I told Thomas Ned about the great armadillo thatused to roam the forests of South America in the qua-ternary period, and perhaps once inhabited this veryisland : the gigantic glyptodon, with its shell as big asa hogshead and body the size of an ox. He wouldbelieve anything I told him, generally, but this rather THE FATNESS OF THE EAKTH. 217 staggered his credulity. Dis a hawg-in-amah
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidcrusoesi, booksubjectbirds
