The tapir is of the size of a small cow or zebu, but without horns or tail; his legs are short, and his body arched like that of a hog. When young his coat is spotted like that of the stag, and afterwards becomes of an uniform dark brown colour. His head is thick and long, with a kind of trunk like the rhinoceros; he has ten cutting teeth, and ten grinders, in each jaw; a character which separates him entirely from the ox, and other ruminating animals. As we have only some skins of this animal, and a drawing which M. de la Condamine favoured us with, we cannot do better than refer to the descriptions given of him from life, by Marcgrave[L] and Barrere[M], at the same time, subjoining what travellers and historians have said concerning him. [L] Marcgrave's Hist. Brasil. [M] The tapir, or, as he is sometimes called, the Maipouri, is an amphibious animal, being as much in the water as on land; he has very short hair, interspersed with black and white hairs. _Nat. Hist. par Barrere._ The tapir appears to be a dull and gloomy animal, who never stirs out but in the night,[N] and delights in the water, where he oftener lives than upon land: he chiefly lives in marshes, and seldom goes far from the borders of rivers or lakes. When alarmed, pursued, or wounded, he plunges into the water, and remains under it until he has passed to a considerable distance. These customs, which he has in common with, the hippopotamus, have made some naturalists imagine him to be of the same species; but they differ as much from each other in nature as the climates are distant which they inhabit. To be assured of this, there needs no more than to compare the descriptions we have recited, with those we have given of the hippopotamus. Although the tapir inhabits the water, he does not feed upon fish; and although his mouth is armed with twenty sharp and incisive teeth, he is not carnivorous. He lives upon plants and roots, and makes no use of his weapons against other animals. He is of a mild and timid nature, and flies from every attack or danger. His legs are short, and his body heavy, but, notwithstanding, he runs very swift, and swims still better than he runs. His skin is of a very firm texture, and so bound together that it often resists a bullet. His flesh is insipid and coarse; nevertheless the Indians eat it. They commonly go in companies, and are found in Brasil, Paraguay, Guiana, and in all the extent of South America, from the extremity of Chili to New Spain. [N] Sonnini says, that it is true the tapir goes out principally in the night, but he is also to be met with in the day. THE ZEBRA.