c H a p. twice fhot, which muft have been by the rebels_pn the
, XX1IL , -27th, when we heard the report of two mulkets at a dif-
” lance/
As I am oirce more on the fubjedt o f natural hiftory,
I Ihall defcribe another amphibipus animal,^ called, the
iapira-y which bears fotne diftant refemblance ,|o tjfrp* hip-
1 pppotamus o f the old continent, but it is a great degl leis.
This creature is about the lize o f a fmallafs, but mqch
more- clumfy. The head Jh: hot unlike that of a horfe,
but the upper lip much longer, ,proje£ting fomething.Uke
the probofpis of an-elephant, and is alfo rpoveable, but
too flaort to b e o f ufb, as is the s trunk oh|hat animal;
the ears are Ihort,. the tulks- Itrohg, and fometimes viable,
the mane is hriftly and-eredt, the limbs are low and
ftrong, with a kind of hoof divided into, fbqr claws,,and
the tail is thick and Ihort, like that of the elephant. The
ikitvof :his creature is exceffiyely thick, p f a brown co-
,s lour, and when young it is marked with whjte lpots, like
thole of the ftag-or paca, proceeding in longitudinal rowsy
It feeds on grafs, and other herbs that grow-in watery
places, and' is fo Ihy, that when alarmed by the fmalleft
noife.rt plunges,under water, alfo like the paca, for fe-
curity, where: it remains for a confiderable time. The
flelh o f the tapira is delicate, being accounted fuperior
bx-be^F.—-See both the above animals iii the
annexed plate.
A Mr. Selefetder, o f the-Society fervice, at this time af-
fnred-me, that he faw quite a different river-horfe in the
river