312 WILD ANIMALS. 



no adequate cause has yet been assigned to bar its farther pro- 

 gress, no large rivers nor lofty mountains intervening, nor any 

 change in the vegetation of the country being manifest. The left 

 bank of the Atrato, near its mouth, and the part of Darien in- 

 habited by the independent Indians may be considered as its 

 northern limit. Its highest range, in the province of Maraquita 

 at least, appears to be from 3000 to 3600 feet above the level of 

 the sea, while the new species discovered by M. Eoulin is only 

 met with at a much greater elevation. 



These tapirs, in common with their Asiatic relatives, exhibit 

 quiet, peaceable, and timid dispositions. They select retired spots 

 in the inmost recesses of the deep forests, to which they resort 

 during the day, in order to sleep free from disturbance, and at 

 night they immerge to find the water in which they delight and 

 to search for food. They feed on the shoots of trees, buds, grass, 

 and water-melons, or other fruits abounding in the countries they 

 inhabit. Azara ^ informs his readers that the tapir devours vast 

 quantities of nitrous clay, and it drinks like the pig ; eats flesh 

 both raw and cooked ; all herbs, and indeed whatever it meets 

 with, not even excepting pieces of linen, wool, and silk ; so that 

 it appears to be even more gluttonous than the pig, and to possess 

 a palate incapable of distinguishing anything. They are dirty 

 and indiscriminate feeders even when kept in captivity or when 

 domesticated. A specimen gnawed in pieces a silver snuff-box 

 belonging to Azara, and not content with this it actually consumed 

 the contents. In menageries they are reported by the keepers as 

 frequently exhibiting their omnivorous and depraved appetites by 

 swallowing rags, paper, or any rubbish they can get down that 

 may incautiously be left within their reach. 



The whole contour of this animal is hog-like. The skin is of a 

 dark-brown colour, approaching to black, and is covered with 

 short and scanty hair ; it is of great density, being, according to 

 the statement of M. Roulin, seven layers thick on the back, and 

 eight or nine on the cheek, and he asserts that bullets have been 

 seen to glance ofi" their bodies without inflicting any material 

 injury. Sonnini also draws attention to the toughness of the 

 3 " The Natural History of the Quadrupeds of Paraguay." 



