CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY. 



TKETH OF TIIK INDIAN TAI'IIi. 



to pieces, but swallowed its contents. The short proboscis of this creature, though incapable of being 



employed like the more complicated organ of the elephant, is yet manifestly of great use in enabling it, 



by serving as a hook, to pull 



down boughs or fruits, and to 



collect together and guide to its 



mouth roots, succulent plants, 



or other substances on which it 



feeds. 



Lieutenant Maw, who 



brought a young tapir to Eng- 

 land, speaks of it as going much 



into the water, and walking 



along, or rather, perhaps, across 



the bottoms of rivers. Others 



iittt.-st that water is an element 



in which, like the elephant and 



the rhinoceros, it takes great 



delight, swimming and rolling 



about to enjoy the refreshing 



luxury of the bath. 



The sight, hearing, and 



smell of the tapir are very 



acute. It is much in request among the natives for its flesh, which, though coarse and dry, they 



regard as excellent food. The skin is valuable from its toughness and density. 



In some parts of South America the tapir is domesticated. M. Sonuini saw numerous individuals 



walking at liberty about 

 the streets of Cayenne, 

 whence they were accus- 

 tomed to stroll into the 

 neighbouring woods, return- 

 ing at night to their home ; 

 nor were they by any means 

 destitute of intelligence, but 

 s; 'euied fond of their mas- 

 ters, whom they acknow- 

 ledged by various tokens of 

 attachment. 



M. Roulin has recently 

 laid before the French Aca- 

 demy a description and the 

 figures of a new species of 

 tapir, inhabiting the moun- 

 tainous parts of the same 

 districts, the plains of which 

 are frequented by the other. 

 From his account it would 



TIIK INDIAN TAPIR. 



appear that the American 

 tapir of the mountains is more nearly allied to the Asiatic species than the American tapir of the plains. 



THE INDIAN TAPIR.* 



I "is tapir is larger than the American; its back and sides are of a grayish white ; and the neck is 

 In its native habits it closely agrees with its distant congener. Its flesh is eaten 

 * Tapir Indicus. 



destitute of a mane. 



