AN INDIAN'S STRATAGEM. 



329 



injury in the mandioca fields of the Indians. His flesh is very good 

 eating, and considered exceedingly wholesome. It is even reputed to 

 be a remedy for the ague. A very shy and timid animal, he wanders 

 about principally at night. " When the Indian discovers a feeding- 

 place," says Mr. Wallace,* " he builds a stage between two trees, 

 about eight feet above the ground, and there stations himself soon 

 after dusk, armed with a gun, or with his bow and arrow. Though 

 such a heavy animal, the tapir steps as lightly as a cat, and can only 

 be heard approaching by the gentle rustling of the bushes ; the 



^ 



AMERICAN TAPIR (Tapirus Americanusj. 



slightest sound or smell will alarm him, and the Indian lies stiJl as 

 death for hours, till the animal approaches sufficiently near to be 

 shot, or until, scenting his enemy, he makes off in another direction." 

 When compelled to stand at bay, however, he defends himself with 

 extraordinary vigour. D'Azara assures us that if the jaguar flings 

 himself upon the tapir, the latter will drag him onward and onward 

 * Wallace, " Travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro." 



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