89 
A STRANGE PET. 
A STRANGE PET. 
ILTHOUGH it is possible to keep as pets in England 
a certain number of tropical animals, yet from the 
coldness and dulness of our climate they usually seem 
unhappy and do not as a rule live very long, nor are 
they nearly as lively and amusing as they are when kept in 
their own country. While residing in Singapore I have kept a 
considerable number of Malayan animals, birds and reptiles. 
Most have thriven well and been a source of great amusement 
to those who have seen them, but few have been more interest- 
ing and diverting than a tapir which I possessed for some time. 
The tapir of itself is an animal of great interest, not only on 
account of its curious form, but because it belongs to a class of 
animals formerly distributed over the whole world, but now, 
alas, dying out even in the distant corners of the globe where 
it has persisted since the Eocene period. 
The little animal, which I bought from a native, was a female, 
and was so young that it had still the colouring of youth, that 
is to say, it was dark brown ornamented with creamy yellow 
spots and stripes, and its eyes were of a greyish blue. It was 
about as big as a large Skye terrier dog. “ Eva,” as she was 
called, was exceedingly tame, and was afraid of nothing. She 
was very good-tempered and full of play, being very fond of the 
terriers, with whom she would sport till the sun became hot, 
when she would go into the shade to sleep. She would pursue 
the dogs as quickly as she could, and try to nip their tails, till 
they in turn pursued her, pretending to bite her on the nose. 
She would often come slyly up to any person she saw and nip 
hold of their clothes with her teeth and shake them, sometimes 
inclosing a bit of skin accidentally as well, which was decidedly 
startling to strangers. Her food consisted of boiled rice with 
plenty of salt and grass, and bushes, chiefly those of a very 
common and pretty shrub, the Melastoma ; of this she would eat 
great armfuls, and she would often seek for the bones discarded 
by the dogs, which she nibbled with much pleasure. She always 
required great quantities of water, both to drink, and also for 
bathing, and much delighted in a swim in the lake, diving to 
the bottom, where she amused herself by digging in the mud, 
remaining a long time submerged. 
When she was vexed, or wished to remonstrate against any- 
thing, she used to utter a piercing whistle through her trunk, 
which was like that of an elephant, but very much smaller. She 
used it to push food into her mouth, but never attempted to 
pick anything up with it. 
As she got bigger she became more active, galloping about 
the grass and tossing up her head like a pony, and, with 
a good start, was not easy to catch. Clumsy as she looked, 
if she got an opportunity she would climb upon a chair and 
thence upon the table, and on one occasion, in so doing overset 
the table, covering herself with ink and white paint which 
happened to be there, and making a horrible mess. 
