846 
T A P 
TAP 
Get me a taper in my study Lucius: 
When it is lighted come and call me. Shakspeare. 
TA'PER, adj. Regularly narrowed from the bottom to 
the top; pyramidal; conical. 
Her taper fingers, and her panting breast, 
He praises. Dry den. 
To TA'PER, v. n. To grow gradually smaller. 
Such be the dog. 
With tapering tail, that nimbly cuts the wind. Tickell. 
To TA'PER, v. a. To make gradually smaller.—-To light 
with tapers. 
The taper'd choir, at the late hour of prayer, 
Oft let me visit. War ton. 
TAPERA DOS BOCAS, a town of Brazil, in the govern¬ 
ment of Para, on the Guanapu ; 90 miles south-west of Para. 
TA'PERNESS, s. The state of being taper.—A Corin¬ 
thian pillar has a relative beauty, dependent on its taperness 
and foliage. Shenstone. 
TA'PESTRY, s. [tapetum , Lat.] Cloth woven in re¬ 
gular figures. 
In the desk 
That’s covered o’er with Turkish tapestry, 
There is a purse of ducats. Shakspeare. 
To TA'PESTRY, v. a. To adorn with tapestry.— 
Flowers, with which the earth is tapistred. War mar. 
TA'PET, s. [tapetia, Lat.] Worked or figured stuff. 
To their work they sit, and each doth chuse 
What story she will for her tapet take. Spenser. 
TAPETI, in Zoology, the name of an animal common 
in the West Indies, and called by some cuniculus Arneri- 
canus, the American rabbit. In the Linnaean system, this 
animal is a species of hare, or lepus Brasiliensis. See 
Lepus. 
TA'PHOUSE, s. A room in which beer is drawn and 
sold in small quantities: in large inns now usually called 
the tap.—The talk of drunkards in taphouses. Beaum. 
and Ft. 
TAPIA, a river of Guiana, which runs south-south-east, 
and enters the Choromoros.—It is also the name of a river in 
Chili, which runs north-north-west, and enters the Valdivia. 
TAPIA, a settlement of New Granada, in the province of 
Carthagena, on the shore of the Cauca,—It is the name of 
several inconsiderable settlements. 
TAPIAN POINT, a cape on the west coast of Mindanao, 
Lat. 7, N, long, 124, 30, E. 
TAPIAU, a town in East Prussia, at the influx of the 
Deine into the larger stream of the Pregel It is situated on 
a height, with a bridge over the Deine, and a ferry over the 
Pregel. Population 1700 5 20 miles south-south-east of 
Koningsberg. 
TAPICU, a river of Brazil, in the province of Maranham, 
which runs north and enters the sea in the bay of Maranham. 
TAPICURO, a river of Brazil, in the province of Todos 
Santos, which enters the sea between the Pontica and Cape 
Color. There is a settlement of the same name on its banks. 
TAPICURU, a river of Brazil, which rises in the moun¬ 
tains of the interior, and running north, enters the sea oppo¬ 
site the island of San Luis. Lat. 12. 20. S. 
TAPINHACANGA, a village of Brazil, in the province of 
Rio Grande. The whole country around contains auriferous 
ore, which is separated from the earth by the simple process 
of washing; and in this species of industry the inhabitants 
of this place were formerly entirely employed. The country, 
however, is now nearly exhausted of its treasures; and this, 
along with most of its other towns and villages, has fallen off 
in consequence. Its population, from 3000, has dwindled to 
1000 . 
TAPIR, or Tapijf.rete of Marcgrave, in Zoology, the 
name of an animal found in some parts of America, and 
called by the Portuguese anta, by others danta, by Dampier 
vache montagnarde, and by others elan, and sus aquations, 
and in the tenth edition of the Linnaean system, hippopota¬ 
mus terrestris. Gmelin makes it a distinct genus; and his 
generic characters, amended by Dr. Shaw, areas follow:— 
Front teeth in both jaws ten; canine teeth in both jaws 
single, ineurvated; grinders in both jaws five on each side, 
very broad ; feet with three hoofs, and a false hoof on the 
fore-feet. This animal ( tapir Americanus) is of the size of 
a young calf, or heifer, and in shape somewhat approaching 
to the figure of the hog, and the back arched; its head is 
thicker than a hog’s, and ends in a sharp ridge at top; and 
the male has a snout, or sort of proboscis, hanging over the 
opening of the mouth, in which he has a very strong muscle, 
serving to retract it at pleasure: the nose of the female is 
destitute of the proboscis (this circumstance is doubted by 
Sonnini), and the jaws are of equal length; its eyes are 
small, and very like those of the hog; its ears roundish, 
bordered with white; and these he can draw forward at 
pleasure; its legs are thick, and not longer than those of our 
hogs; its fore-hoofs are divided into three portions; and a 
sort of false hoof behind ; but its hind-hoofs into three; its 
tail is very small; the skin is hard and solid ; and the hair 
short, and of a pale brown, and when young, variegated 
with white spots; and along the neck is a bristly mane, an 
inch and a half high. It lives in thick woods, on the east¬ 
ern side of South America, from the isthmus of Darien to 
the river of the Amazons; and sleeps all day, but at night, 
or early in the morning, goes out for its prey: it feeds on 
vegetables, and is particularly fond of the stalks of the sugar¬ 
cane: it often takes the water, and swims excellently. The 
natives, in places where it is common, eat its flesh, which is 
said to be good : the Indians shoot it with poisoned arrows, 
and cut the skin into bucklers. This animal is salacious, 
slow-footed, and sluggish, and makes a kind of hissing noise, 
but perfectly harmless: the young are easily tamed, and 
may be rendered domestic, which is said to be the case in 
some parts of Guiana. When attacked by dogs it makes a 
vigorous resistance. The tapir produces but one young at a 
birth, of which it is very careful, leading it at an early age 
to the sea, and instructing it to swim. Bay and Pennant. 
TAPIROZA, a strait or channel formed in the middle of 
the bay of Maranham, by the island of San Luis with the 
continent, and defended by a castle and fort. 
TA'PIS, s. [Fr.] Literally tapestry, which formerly 
covered tables; whence matters laid upon the table for dis¬ 
cussion.—.The house of lords sate till past five at night. 
Lord Churchill and lord Godolphin went away, and gave 
no votes in the matter which was upon the tapis. Ld. Cla¬ 
rendon. 
TAPISI, a large and abundant river of Peru, which rises 
from the mountains of Cocamas, runs north for more than 
25 leagues, and then forms a lake which is known by the 
same name. It afterwards takes a north-west course, and 
enters the Ucayale, in Lat. 5. 13. S. 
TAPITAY, a settlement of Peru, in the province of Para¬ 
guay, situate on Ihe shore of the river Parana. 
TA'PLASH, s. [from tap, and perhaps lasche, Fr., slack, 
slowk] Poor beer; the last running of small beer; dregs. 
Still used in the north of England.'—Bandied up and down 
by the schoolmen in their tap/ns/i-disputes. Bp. Parker. 
TAPLOW, a village and parish of England, in the county 
of Buckingham, situated on a hill on the banks of the 
Thames, It commands a fine prospect of the surrounding 
country, and in the neighbourhood there are several elegant 
villas ; but the mansion of Clifden, belonging to the marquis 
of Thomond,.and once the magnificent palace of the duke of 
Buckingham, was destroyed by fire in 1795 ; 1 mile north¬ 
east of Maidenhead, and 25 west of London. Popula¬ 
tion 592. 
TAPO, a rapid river, called also Tarma, as being on the 
confines of this province. It is only passable in rafts made 
of reeds. 
TAPO AN A, a river of Brazil, in the province of Rio 
Janeiro, which runs east, and enters the sea, in Lat. 21. 10. S, 
TAPOCOROI, a river of Brazil, which runs into the sea, 
Lat. 27. S. 
TAPOLITZA, 
