TAPIIR. 
water : where it swims very well, or sinks, 
below ; and, like the Hippopotame, walks on. 
the bottom as on dry ground. The Indians 
shoot it with poisoned arrows : they cut the 
skin into bucklers ; and eat the flesh, which is 
said to he very good. It is a salacious, slow- 
footed, and sluggish animal, and makes a sort^ 
of hissing noise. These animals are of a very 
mild nature, and capable of being made very 
tame. In Guiana, they are sometimes kept 
and fed with other domestic beasts in the farm- 
yards. They feed themselves with their nose ; 
making use of it as the Rhinoceros does it^s 
upper lip. They know their master, who 
brings them their food ; will take any thing 
that is offered ; and will rummage people's 
pockets, with their nose, foj meat. Their 
common attitude is that of sitting on the rump^ 
like a Dog. Notwithstanding their mild na- 
ture, Gumilla says that, if attacked, they will 
make a vigorous resistance; and that they 
scarcely ever fail to tear off the skin from the 
Dogs which they can lay hold of. Dampier^ 
and Bancroft," Pennant concludes, "give very 
faulty descriptians of this beast, imagining it 
to be the san^e with the Hippopotame." 
B 11 ff bn 
