THE TAPIR, OR THE ANTA.1

THE tapir is of the size of a small cow, but without horns, and with a short, naked tail; the legs are short and thick, and the feet have small black hoofs. The body is thick and clumsy, and the back somewhat arched, and the hair is of a dusky or brownish color. On the short thick neck is a kind of bristly mane, which, near the head, is an inch and a half in length. His head is of a tolerable size, with roundish erect ears, and small

eyes, and the muzzle terminates in a kind of proboscis, which can be extended or contracted, at the will of the animal. The latter it uses in feeding, to grasp its food and convey it to the mouth, in the same way that the rhinoceros applies its upper lip; and in this are also contained the organs of smell. He has ten incisive teeth, and ten grinders, in each jaw; a character which separates him entirely from the ox, and other ruminating animals. His skin is so thick and hard as to be almost impenetrable to a bullet; for which reason the Indians make shields of it.

The tapir seldom stirs out but in the night, and delights in the water, where he oftener lives than upon land. He is chiefly to be found in marshes,

1 Tapirus Americanus. The genus Tapirus has six upper and six lower incisors; two upper and two lower canines; fourteen upper and fourteen lower molars. Intermediate incisors shorter than the exterior; nose terminating in a moveable little proboscis, but not by a kind of finger, like the elephant; eyes small; ears long and moveable; fore feet with four toes, the hind ones with three, with short, round hoofs; tail very short; two inguinal mammæ.

and seldom goes far from the borders of rivers or lakes. He swims and dives with singular facility. When he is threatened, pursued, or wounded, he plunges into the water, and remains there till he has got to a great distance, before he re-appears. These customs, which he has in common with the hippopotamus, have made some naturalists imagine him to be of the same species; but he differs as much from him in nature, as he is distant from him in climate. To be assured of this, there needs no more than to compare the description we have now recited, with that of the hippopotamus. Although the tapir inhabits the water, he does not feed upon fish; and, although his mouth is armed with twenty sharp incisive teeth, he is not carnivorous. He lives upon sugar-canes, grasses, the leaves of shrubs, and various kinds of fruit; and does not make use of what nature has armed him with against other animals. He is of a mild and timid nature, and flies from every attack or danger: when, however, he is cut off from retreat, he makes a vigorous defence against dogs and men. His usual attitude is that of sitting on his rump like a dog; and his voice is a kind of whistle. The flesh is wholesome food. He may be tamed, and is then very gentle and docile. This animal is commonly found in Brazil, Paraguay, Guiana, and in all the extent of South America, from the extremity of Chili to Columbia.

A species of tapir, which has recently been discovered, is very common in the island of Sumatra and the forests of Malacca. Its body is of a dirty white, while the head, legs, and tail are of a deep black. This species has no mane, and its proboscis is from seven to eight inches long.

Among the numerous fossil remains of a former world, are found fragments of tapirs of enormous size. One of these extinct species, the gigantic tapir, must have been more than equal to the elephant in magnitude..

THE HORSE.1

THE horse is not known in its pristine state. The natural disposition of these animals is not ferocious, they are only high spirited and wild; and though superior in strength to the greatest part of animals, yet they never attack them; and if they are attacked by others, either disdain them or trample them under their feet. They go also in bodies, and unite themselves into troops, merely for the pleasure of being together; for they are

1 Equus caballus, LIN. The genus Equus has six upper and six lower incisors; two upper and two lower canines, or sometimes none in the females; twelve upper and twelve lower molars. Molars furrowed on each side, with flat crowns and several ridges of enamel; a void space between the canines and molars; upper lip capable of considerable motion; eyes large; ears rather large, pointed, erect, and moveable; feet terminating in a solid hoof; tail with long hair, or a tuft at its extremity; two inguinal mammæ.

not fearful of, but have an attachment to, each other. As herbs and vegetables are sufficient for their nourishment, they have quite enough to satisfy their appetite; and as they have no relish for the flesh of animals, they never make war with them, nor with each other. They never quarrel about their food, they have no occasion to ravish the prey of another, the ordinary source of contentions and quarrels.

The astonishment and fear which the inhabitants of Mexico and Peru expressed at the sight of horses and their riders, convinced the Spaniards that this animal was entirely unknown in those countries. They therefore carried thither a great number, as well for service and their particular utility, as to propagate the breed. M. de la Salle, in 1685, saw in the northern parts of America, near the bay of St. Louis, whole troops of these wild horses, feeding in the pastures, which were so fierce that no one dared to approach them. The author of the History of the Adventures of the Buccaneers, says, that, in the island of St Domingo, horses may sometimes be seen in troops of upwards of five hundred, all running together; and that as soon as they see a man, they will all stop. That one of them will approach to a certain distance, snort, take flight, and then all the rest will follow him. To catch them, they make use of nooses made of ropes, which they spread and hang in places which they know they frequent. But if they are caught by the neck they strangle themselves, unless the hunter comes in time to their assistance, who instantly secures them by the body and legs, and fastens them to trees, where they are left for two days without either food or drink. This experiment is sufficient to begin to make them tractable, and in time they become as much so as if they had never been wild. And even if by chance they ever regain their liberty, they never become so again, but know their masters, and suffer them to catch them again without trouble.

Of those which have returned to the wild state, such as the numerous herds of South America, the appearance is not prepossessing, according to the ideas which have been formed of the symmetry of the domestic varieties.

The different races of the horse are numerous, most of the principal countries in the world possessing breeds peculiar to themselves. But the Arabian race has long been considered as the noblest of the species, and as combining the qualities of endurance, vigor, and temper, in a higher degree than any of the other varieties. As breeders of horses have ascertained that the qualities of the Arabian horse may be perpetuated in his descendants, in the countries of Europe, where attention is paid to the raising of this valuable animal, for various purposes, the deterioration which a northern climate induces in a native of warmer latitudes, is counteracted by crossing with the original breed. From the importation of the pure breed of Arabia into Europe, and the different crossings of these and their descendants with the native breeds, has arisen all that variety of appearance and qualities of the horse, which fits them for heavy draughts, the plough, or the saddle.

It is in England chiefly, however, that the cultivation and education of the horse has been carried to its greatest refinement, and in France are local races, admirably adapted to the different purposes which agriculture, or commerce, or luxury may demand. The first is the race horse, immediately proceeding from an Arabian or Barbary stallion, with an English mare already crossed with a Barb or Arab, in the first degree, or the result of two crossings in the same degree. This breed is termed first blood, or the nearest possible to the original stock; and in the quality of speed it is not probable that it can ever be exceeded. The next is the hunter, the result of crossing a stallion of the first blood with a mare of a degree less near the original source. The third, is the cross between the hunter and the more common mares, which, uniting the stronger limbs and heavier bodies of the indigenous races to the qualities of the Arabian, produce the British carriage horses; and the great dray horse, whose gigantic proportions and immense power of draught can scarcely be surpassed, are the produce of this last with the strongest mares of the country breed. And it is a curious circumstance, that, in the mixture of all these races, the influence of the Arab blood is observable, either in the conformation of some peculiar parts, or the preservation of some peculiar qualities. The Persian, Barbary, and Turkish horses are those which come nearest to the Arabian in conformation and qualities, and the Spanish horses long enjoyed a high character in Europe, probably from the breed being kept up by the intermixture of the horses of Barbary. In France are numerous varieties, and most of them very serviceable animals. The other European races, it would be impossible to enumerate here.

The Arabs divide their horses into two races. The first, which they call kochlani, or kailhan, are those whose genealogy is known for two thousand years, and which has, they say, originated from the stud of Solomon. The other race, appropriated to servile uses, they name kadischi, or horses of an unknown race, and they are peculiarly careful, by certificates and other means, to preserve the principal races pure. The mares enjoy the exclusive privilege of transmitting the purity of the race to their descendants, and the genealogies are always reckoned from the mothers.

Herds of wild horses, the offspring of those which have escaped from the Spanish possessions in Mexico, are not uncommon in the extensive prairies that lie to the west of the Mississippi. They were once numerous on the

Kootannie Lands, near the northern sources of the Columbia, on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountain ridge; but of late years, they have been almost eradicated in that quarter. They are not known to exist in a wild state, to the northward of the fifty-second or fifty-third parallel of latitude. The young stallions live in separate herds, being driven away by the old ones, and are easily ensnared, by using domestic mares as a decoy. The Kootannies are acquainted with the Spanish-American mode of taking them with the lasso.