silence, that
we may recount those that were most interesting.

One evening, as he was walking through a very beautiful country, in
which were numerous small lakes and streams, he was suddenly arrested by
a crashing sound in the under-wood, as if some large animal were coming
towards him; and he had barely time to fit an arrow to his bow when the
bushes in front of him were thrust aside, and the most hideous monster
that he had ever seen appeared before his eyes. It was a tapir; but
Martin had never heard of or seen such creatures before, although there
are a good many in some parts of Brazil.

The tapir is a very large animal,--about five or six feet long and three
or four feet high. It is in appearance something between an elephant
and a hog. Its nose is very long, and extends into a short proboscis;
but there is no finger at the end of it like that of the elephant. Its
colour is a deep brownish black, its tough hide is covered with a thin
sprinkling of strong hairs, and its mane is thick and bristly. So thick
is its hide that a bullet can scarcely penetrate it; and it can crush
its way through thickets and bushes, however dense, without receiving a
scratch. Although a very terrific animal to look at, it is fortunately
of a very peaceable and timid disposition, so that it flees from danger,
and is very quick in discovering the presence of an enemy. Sometimes it
is attacked by the jaguar, which springs suddenly upon it and fastens
its claws in its back; but the tapir's tough hide is not easily torn,
and he gets rid of his enemy by bouncing into the tangled bushes and
bursting through them, so that the jaguar is very soon _scraped_ off his
back! The tapir lives as much in the water as on the land, and
_delights_ to wallow like a pig in muddy pools. It is, in fact, very
similar in many of its habits to the great hippopotamus of Africa, but
is not quite so large. It feeds entirely on vegetables, buds, fruits,
and the tender shoots of trees, and always at night. During the day
time it sleeps. The Indians of Brazil are fond of its flesh, and they
hunt it with spears and poisoned arrows.

But Martin knew nothing of all this, and fully expected that the
dreadful creature before him would attack and kill him; for, when he
observed its coarse, tough-looking hide, and thought of the slender
arrows with which he was armed, he felt that he had no chance, and there
did not happen to be a tree near him at the time up w