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continent. There were none of the _bovine_ tribe, as the buffalo and
musk-ox of North America; and no large deer, as the elk and moose of the
Northern latitudes. The deer of South America, of which there are
several undescribed species, are all small animals. The tapir, then, in
point of size takes precedence in the South-American _fauna_.

His rounded body gives him some resemblance to a great hog, or a donkey
with its hair shaved off; but, in fact, he is not very like either; he
is more like a _tapir_ than anything else--that is, he is a creature
_sui generis_. Perhaps, if you were to shave a large donkey, cut off
most part of his ears and tail, shorten his limbs--and, if possible,
make them stouter and clumsier--lengthen his upper jaw so that it should
protrude over the under one into a prolonged curving snout, and then
give him a coat of blackish-brown paint, you would get something not
unlike a tapir.

To complete the resemblance, however, you would have to continue the
erect mane over the forehead, between the ears, and down to the level of
the eyes, which would give that crested appearance that characterises
the tapir. Instead of hoofs, moreover, you would give your donkey large
toes--four upon the fore feet, and upon the hind ones three. A little
silky hair upon the stumped tail, and a few thinly scattered hairs of a
brown colour over the body, would make the likeness still more striking;
and it would be necessary, too, that the donkey be one of the very
biggest kind to be as big as a big tapir.

The tapir is a harmless creature, and although it has a good set of
teeth, it never uses them for the purpose of defending itself. When
attacked by either men or fierce animals, it tries to escape by flight,
and if that fails, submits to be killed; but there is no "fight" to be
got out of a tapir.

The tapir leads a very solitary life, being met with alone, or sometimes
in the company of the female. The latter has but one young at a birth,
which follows her until able to provide for itself; when they associate
no longer together, but part company, each taking its own way.

This animal is called amphibious, because it spends part of its time in
the water; but, although it has been called the American representative
of the rhinoceros and hippopotamus, it is not so much a water animal as
either of these. It seeks its food in the river, or the marshes that
border it, and can remain for several minutes under water; bu