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CHAPTER XYL 
OBSEEVATIONS ON THE ZOOLOGY OE THE AMAZON 
DISTRICT. 
A. Mammalia. 
Notwithstanding the luxuriance of the vegetation, 
which might be supposed to afford sustenance, directly 
or indirectly, to every kind of animal life, the Amazon 
valley is remarkably deficient in large animals, and of 
Mammalia generally has a smaller number both of spe- 
cies and individuals, than any other part of the world 
of equal extent, except Australia. Three small species of 
deer, which occur but rarely, are the only representa- 
tives of the vast herds of countless species of deer and 
antelopes and buffaloes which swarm in Africa and 
Asia, and of the wild sheep and goats of Europe and 
North America. The tapir alone takes the place of the 
elephants and rhinoceroses of the Old World. Two or 
three species of large Felidce, and two wild hogs, with 
the capybara and paca, comprise almost all its large 
game; and all these are thinly scattered over a great 
