THE TAPIR. 173 



she thinks most delicate to the taste. The poor, in 

 some countries, eat their flesh ; but it is certainly a 

 rank, if not an unwholesome, food. 



THE TAPIR. 



This animal may, in some measure, be termed am- 

 phibious, as it chiefly resides in rivers and lakes ; the 

 figure bears some distinct resemblance to a mule, with 

 a long snout that it can contract or dilate at pleasure ; 

 the ears are small and pendant ; and the skin is so 

 thick that an arrow cannot pierce it, and covered with 

 a light brown hair. The tapir is an animal of the new 

 world, and considered both as a delicate and whole- 

 some food. 



THE RACOON. 



The racoon, which some authors have called the 

 Jamaica rat, is about the size of a small badger ; the 

 body is at once short and bulky ; the tail long, and 

 encircled with rings ; the fur is fine, long, and thick, 

 blackish at the surface, but grey towards the root : the 

 nose is shorter and more pointed than that of a fox ; 

 the eyes are large and yellow ; the teeth resemble those 

 of a dog ; and, like the squirrel, it uses its paws for 

 eating its food ; and though it is a very clumsy ani- 

 mal, yet, from its pointed claws, it is enabled to climb 

 with rapidity the most elevated trees. 



The racoon is a native of the southern parts of Ame- 

 rica ; but in Jamaica it particularly abounds : it is pe- 

 culiarly destructive to the sugar plantations ; and the 

 breed is so numerous that they cannot be destroyed. 

 In a domestic state it is perfectly harmless, and amuses 

 its master by a variety of playful tricksr- 



