1 62 NATURAL SCIENCE. March, 



abundant in the further jungles of the interior, and though rarer than 

 the rhinoceros, is oftener to be seen in captivity. It is wonderful how 

 so defenceless an animal should be able to escape the attacks of the 

 bigger carnivora ; but it inhabits the deeper hill-woods where the 

 tiger is scarce or does not go, and is very quick at hearing and slip- 

 ping away from an enemy. It eats grass, and more usually bushes. 

 A tame one was found to prefer the common Melastoma polyanthum 

 to any other plant. It also ate fruit and boiled rice, and was very 

 fond of biting and eating bones. 



The young one is dark brown, with yellow, creamy spots, a 

 most beautiful adaptation for protection ; as it lies during the hot 

 part of the day under the bushes, its coat is so exactly like a patch of 

 ground flecked with sunlight that it is quite invisible. Some of the 

 spots are round and some are elongate, the former resembling the flecks 

 of sunlight falling vertically, the latter those which come slanting 

 through the foliage. The little animal lies in such an attitude that 

 the round and long spots are exactly in the position in which the sun- 

 spots would be. On one occasion my tapir was lying asleep during 

 the hot part of the day among some bushes, and wishing to shut it 

 up, I went to look for it ; but on parting the bushes I could not see it 

 at all, though I was absolutely looking down upon it. In the jungle 

 any animal of a single colour is much more conspicuous than a parti- 

 coloured one, the mass of colour striking the eye more clearly. So 

 that an entirely black or entirely white animal is easily seen ; but a 

 mixture of the two colours blends with the reflections of light and 

 shadow falling on the ground through the foliage. The adult tapir is 

 black, except for the tips of its ears and from the saddle to the rump, 

 which parts are greyish-white ; this would be thought conspicuous 

 enough at first, but it is not at all so. When lying down during the 

 day, it exactly resembles a grey boulder, and as it often lives near the 

 rocky streams of the hill-jungles, it is really nearly as invisible then as 

 it was when it was speckled. It feeds at dawn, and till the sun gets 

 hot, when it retires to sleep, recommencing at dusk. 



The tapir when young utters a kind of whistle, which can be 

 heard afar ; it is done through the trunk. The adult gives a kind of 

 low coughing bark, as an alarm-note. As in its haunts it has often 

 many obstacles, such as fallen trees and rocks, to scramble over, it is 

 quite skilful at clambering about, and when as big as a fair-sized pig 

 my animal would contrive, if left alone, to get upon a chair and thence 

 upon the table. It can trot, or gallop at a good pace, and goes very 

 fast through the jungle when disturbed. When taken young it 

 becomes very tame and amusing. As the jungles are cleared the 

 tapir becomes rarer and rarer, but it is to be hoped that it may be 

 long ere this most interesting element in our fauna becomes extinct. 



On the Elephant it is hardly necessary to give any notes. It is 

 not excessively abundant, but is plentiful in many parts of the 

 Peninsula. It is called " Gajah " by the Malays, who seem rather 



