256 THE TAPIR. 



taking the small with the great, will weigh about a hundred and twenty 

 pounds. 



One of the links which unite the elephants to the swine and rhino- 

 ceros is to be found in the genus Tapirus. The animals which belong 

 to this genus are remarkable for the prolonged upper lip, which is 

 formed into a kind of small proboscis, not unlike that of the elephant, 

 but upon a smaller scale, and devoid of the finger-like appendage at 

 the extremity. Only two species are at present existing. 



The common or American Tapir, sometimes called the Mborebi, is 

 a native of tropical America, where it is found in great numbers, in- 

 habiting the densely-wooded regions that fringe the banks of rivers. 

 It is a great water-lover, and can swim or dive with perfect ease. The 

 tough, thick hide with which the Tapir is covered is of great service 

 in enabling the animal to pursue its headlong course through the forest 

 without suffering injury from the branches. When it runs, it carries 

 its head very low, as does the wild boar under similar circum- 

 stances. 



The color of the adult Tapir is a uniform brown, but the young is 

 beautifully variegated with yellowish fawn spots and stripes upon a 

 rich brown-black ground, reminding the observer of the peculiar tint- 

 . J ing of the Hood's marmot. The neck is 



Vl/' '^fc J" ^tl^>i'"^d ^vith a «hort and erect black 

 mane. 



The Tapir can easily be brought under 

 the subjection of man, and is readily tamed, 

 becoming unpleasantly familiar w'ith those 

 '- persons whom it knows, and taking all 

 o kinds of liberties with them, which would 

 be well enough in a little dog or a kitten, 

 KuDA-AYER OR MALAYAN but are quite out of place with an animal 

 Tapir {Tapirus Malaydnus). ^^ jj^^gg ^g ^ donkey. 



The second species of Tapir is found in Malacca and Sumatra, and 

 is a most conspicuous animal, in consequence of the broad band of 

 white that encircles the body, and which at a little distance gives it the 

 aspect of being muffled up in a white sheet. 



The ground color of the adult Malayan Tapir is a deep sooty 

 black, contrasting most strongly with the grayish white of the back 

 and flanks. The young animal is as beautifully variegated as that of 

 the preceding species, being striped and spotted with yellow fawn upon 

 the upper parts of the body, and with white below. There is no mane 

 upon the neck of the Malayan Tapir, and the proboscis is even longer 

 in proportion. In size it rather exceeds the preceding animal. In 

 many of its habits the Malayan animal is exactly similar to the species 

 which inhabits America, but it is said that, although the Kuda-Ayer 



