TAP 





T A P 



that had gathered about the history of this animal began 

 to clear away before the lights of observation. Button hail 



I tin- only American Tapir then known, as the 1 

 animal of the New World ; but this i-an hunlly be said of 

 it when the Elk anil tin- Wapiti are remembered. Geoffroy 

 M. Hilaire anil Baron Cuvicr first accurately defined its 

 zoological characters: and Sonnini nnd D'Azara cave a 

 correct account of its lialiits. Button's figure, alter a 

 drawing by I.a Condamine. was the first at all approach- 

 ing to accuracy. A living individual was afterwards 

 brought to France, b\it died lie: . al at Pan 



furnished a Mill better desiirn. published with further in- 

 formation, derived chiefly from Sonnini, and M. Bajor.'s 

 memoir on the anatomy of the species, in the Supplement 

 to Button, \ol.vi.: but still some of the errors wen- re- 

 tained ; nor was the'account of two other individuals living 

 in the menagerie belonging to the Prince of Orange, by 

 Allamand, complete. 



Lieut. Maw, in his Journal of << Pitssagr from Ihr 

 I'<iriflc to the Atlantic (1829), speaks of the Tapir as com- 

 mon in the woods and ri\ers about Egas, there called Anln, 

 and which is the same animal with the Sachywaka, Dante, 

 or Gran Bestia of Peru, of which they had heard much 

 both before and since embarking. Two kinds were de- 

 scribed to them, one bavin*; the tips of its cars white, and 

 which is the lariresl : when young it was stated to be 

 striped and spotted like a deer, the spots disappearing M 

 it crows older, till it becomes entirely of a dusky bay 

 colour. Here we have a clear intimation of the knowledge 

 of two species by those inhabiting the spot. 



The form of the species best known has since been ren- 

 dered familiar to Englishmen by the exhibition of living 

 specimens in the gardens of the Zoological Society of Lon- 

 don in the Regent's Park. 



But this is not the only American Tapir : fur M. Konlin, 

 about thirteen years since, laid before the French Academy 

 a description and figures of a new species inhabiting the 

 mountainous parts of the same districts, the plains of which 

 are frequented by the other; and his account is given in 

 the An miles des Sciewi't \<itnr> -Ili-s : from this it would 



appear that the American Tapir of the mountains is more 

 nearly allied to the Asiatic species than the American 

 Tapir of the plains. 



\Ve take as our example the species first known. 

 .liii-rirniiiix, Gmel. 



Denrrijiti'iti. General colour throughout deep brown 

 approaching to black. Sides of the lower lip. hand on the 

 under and middle part of the chin, upper edges of the 

 cars, and naked line at the junction of the hoofs pure 

 white. Scanty hair of the body very short, closely ad- 



1 In the surface: hardly distinguishable at a 

 distance. The skin beneath it is of threat density, belli:,', 

 according to M. Uoulin, not !: < n lines thick on 



the hack, and eight or nine lines on the cheek, and so 

 touch that Sonnini frequently shot at a female which was 

 us; the river with her young, without disturbing her 

 or makine her turn out of her course, though he saw the 

 impression of a ball which he had tired on the animal's 

 check. There is a thick rounded crest on the hack of the 

 neck, extending from the forehead ns low as the level of 

 the eyes to the shoulders, and bristled with a not thick 

 mane of still' blackish hairs. Mr. Bennett icmail. that it 

 is peculiar to the present species, but is not found, accord- 

 ing to M. Konlin, in the female at Cayenne: although 

 D'A/ara states that the female is equally furnished with it 

 in Paraguay. In the female brought by Lieut. Maw from 

 Para, and 'formerly in the menagerie "of the Xoological 

 :yof I/ondon, it was \ cry conspicuous. Head very 

 long ; muzzle prolonged and covered above with hair of 

 Miie colour as that of the body, but naked and flesh- 

 coloured at its extremity (which !s flattened ; and under- 

 neath. F.yes very small, of a dull lead colour. 



The colour of the individual dissected by Mr. Yarrell 

 was rusty reddish-brown, with indications of lighter spots 

 and horizontal lines on the ribs, flanks, and tin 

 fawn-coloured spot* and stripes.' MI;, s Mi. Yarrell, 'are 

 common to both species of Tapir' (the Sumatran and the 

 American species then known are meant ' while young : 

 that of Sumatra not exhibiting till it is ,i\ mon'ths old 

 any appearance of the well-defined black and whiti 

 which afterwards distinguishes the adult animal. 

 J'liirn., vol. 



Mr. Bennett, too, remarks that the young is of a much 



lighter brown than the adult, with numerous small white 

 -pus on the cheeks, a whitish muzzle, and MX or eight, 

 complete narrow hands of white pacing along each side 

 of the body from the shoulders to the haunches. Ke- 

 irnlnr rows, says Mr. Bennett, in continuation. of small 

 white spots, placed at equal d) m cadi other, 



alternate with these bands. The vipper parts of the limbs 

 are marked in a similar manner: their inner sides, as well 

 the under surface of the body, are white; and their ex- 

 tremities of the ground-colour of the whole body, with a 

 lew fainter spots scattered over them. Before the end of 

 the first year of their age this livery becomes comp'< 

 lost : it is partially visible in the young specimen in the 

 Society's museum, but not at all in the living individuals 

 at the Gardens i 1X10 . Similar markings occur in the. 

 young of the Sumatra! :md also, we may observe, 



in that of the Hog in its native state. The adidt female 

 of the present species has generally a considerable number 



of whitish bain intermingled with the brown, which give-. 

 her somewhat of a grizzled appcaiancc." 

 irirnl f*'irii'ttf ili'/ini- 



I iliti/. South America. 'Few animals of equal 

 si/e." says the author last quoted. 'hav e MI extensive a 

 lange as the American Tapir. It is found in even part of 

 South America to the east of the Andes, from the Siraits 

 of Magellan* to the Isthmus of Darien : but appears to lie 

 minion within the tropics. M. Koulin dwells upon 

 it as a singular fact that although it occurs as far . 

 south of the equator, it ceases suddenly at about K north, 

 in a situation where it is extremely abundant. and where no 

 adequate cause has yet been assigned to bar its further pro- 

 gress, no huge riveis nor lofu mountains intervening, nor 

 any change in the character of t! 'inn of the 



country being manifest. The left bank of the Atrato near 

 ith, and the part of Darien inhabited by the inde- 

 pendent Indians, i.iav be considered as its northern limit. 

 Its highest range, iii the province of Maraqmta at least, 

 appears to be from :K) to lilJOO feet above the level of 

 the sea, while the new species discovered by M. Konlin is 

 only met with at a much greater elevation.' 



Ilutiit*. C/iiin; ,\ r. The inmost recedes of deep ! 

 are the chosen haunts of this species, which is not gregari- 

 ous, and ilies from the proximity of man. It is for the 

 most part nocturnal in its habits, sleeping or remaining 

 quiet during the day, and at night seeking its food, which, 

 in its natc.ial state, consists of shoots of trees, buds, wild 

 fruits. &e. If we are to believe D'A/aia, and he Wl 

 accurate observer, it is very fond of the barrero. or nitrous 

 earth of Paiaguay. Il is however a most indiscriminate 

 swallower of everything filthy or clean, nutritious or other- 

 wise, M the farrago found in the stomach of the individual 

 i-d by Mr. Yarrell showed. Pieces of wood, clay, 

 pebbli esarcnol un frequent h taken out of the 



stomachs of those which are killed in the woods : and one 

 kept by D'.'i silver snutt'-ho -. and 



s, allowed ill'.' contents. 



l! is a powerful animal, and everything in the under- 

 i_v to its rush. It is in the habit. 



of making runs or roads through the brushwood, and Ihe-e 

 beaten tra.:. -lected h;. 



through the t'oi- 



Quiet and peaceable in i ( s demeanour, it is hunted for 

 kt of its tough hide and its Mesh, which, though not 

 liked by the Knropcan for it is coarse and dry . is relished 

 by the unsophisticated palate of the Indian. 



The lasso i- not often employed in its capture, not only 

 from its haunts being geneially unfavourable to that mode 

 of hunting, but because its determined inshand strength 

 will at a single effort snap the line which is sliong ei 



eer of a bull. The hunters will sometimes 

 lie in wait with their dogs near a Tapir's road as evening 

 approaches, and so get between him and the water to 

 which he usually directs his < the purp. 



bathing and wallowing at the commencement of In- 

 turnal career. He n, d tight and inflicts | 



wounds upon the dogs with his teeth, especially if lie 

 can reach the water, where he stands at bay, 



deep and defies the fiercest of them: for: com- 



pelled to swim to the attack, the Tapir bides his time, and 

 seizing them by the backs of their necks as they succo- 

 siveh come within his reach, shakes them oft, not without 

 biting a piece out. 



A' '. :it ] rrsont. 



