This species (_fig._ 127) is larger than the former; he has the upper
part of the head, neck, body, legs, and tail, covered with a very hard
crust, composed of several large pieces, elegantly disposed. He has
a buckler on each shoulder, and another on the rump, each of which
are in one piece; only there is beyond the buckler on the shoulders,
and near the head a moveable band, which enables the animal to bend
its neck. The buckler on the shoulders is formed by five parallel
rows, composed of pieces which represent five angles, with an oval
in each; the cuirass on the back, that is the part betwixt the two
bucklers, is divided into six bands, which are united together and to
the bucklers, by seven joints of a supple and thick skin. These bands
are composed of large square pieces; from the skin of these joints
some white hairs issue out, like those on the breast and belly; all
these inferior parts are covered only by a grainy skin, and not by a
crustaceous substance like the upper. The buckler on the rump has a
border, the mosaic work of which is similar to that of the moveable
bands, and the rest consists of pieces like those of the bucklers of
the shoulders. The crust of the head is long, broad, and consists of
one piece, extending to the moveable band on the neck. He has a sharp
muzzle, small and hollow eyes, a narrow and sharp tongue; the ears are
without hair, naked, short, and brown, like the skin of the joints;
he has eighteen teeth in each jaw, five claws to each foot, long, in
a round form, and rather narrow; the head and the snout are like
those of a pig, the tail is thick at its origin, diminishing gradually
towards the extremity, where it is very slender and round. The colour
of the body is a reddish yellow; the animal is commonly thick and fat,
and the male has the sexual organ very visible; he digs into the ground
with great facility with his snout and claws; he dwells in the day-time
underground, and only goes out towards the evening to seek for food; he
drinks often, lives upon fruit, roots, insects, and birds, when he can
catch them.