TRACKING THE TAPIR.
It has been already mentioned that the stream in front of the house was
wider than at other parts, forming a sort of lake. There was a slow
current down the middle, but at the sides the water was nearly stagnant,
and there grew in some places bunches of flags interspersed with
beautiful white lilies. Among these could be distinguished that gigantic
_nympha_ so celebrated under the name of _Victoria regia_--for South
America is the native country of this rare plant.
Every night, as our party were resting from their labours, they heard
strange noises proceeding from the water. There was plunging and
plashing, and now and then a snorting sound like that sometimes uttered
by frightened swine. Perhaps it would have puzzled any of them to tell
whence these sounds proceeded, or what animal gave utterance to them,
for there could be no doubt they were caused by an animal. Some of them
guessed "alligators;" but that was not a correct guess, for although
there are plenty of alligators in all the rivers of tropical America,
there seemed to be none in that particular place.
In truth, they might have remained long in the dark about what creature
they thus heard sweltering about nightly, for they could neither see nor
hear anything of it in the day; but Guapo, who knew every sound of the
Montaña, enlightened them at once. Guapo had been a keen _tapir-hunter_
in his time, and understood all the habits of that strange animal. It
was a tapir, then, which they had heard taking his regular nightly bath,
and regaling himself on the roots of the flags and _nymphæ_.
Have you ever seen a tapir? Not a living one, I fancy; perhaps the skin
of one in a museum. He is an interesting creature, for this reason--that
he is the largest land animal indigenous to South America. The llama and
guanaco stand higher because their legs are longer, and they are far
inferior to the tapir in bulk and weight: while the bears of South
America, of which there are two or three species, are small-sized bears,
and therefore less than the tapir. In fact, no very large land animals
were found indigenous in the southern division of the American
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; but for all
that most of its time is passed on dry land. It sleeps during the day in
some dry spot upon a bed of withered leaves, from whence it sallies
every evening, and makes to the marshy banks of some well-known stream.
It frequently leaves its lair during rain, and goes in search of food.
Like hogs it is very fond of wallowing in a muddy place; but, unlike
these slovenly animals, it does not return to its bed until it has
plunged into the clear water, and thoroughly purified itself of the
mud.
One habit of the tapir--and an unfortunate one for itself--is that in
going its rounds it always follows the old track. In this way a path is
soon formed from its lair to its feeding-place, so conspicuous that a
hunter might trail it upon the run. It is easy, therefore, to "waylay" a
tapir. Guapo knew this well, and had already, while over among the
palms, marked the track of the one that came nightly to the stream, and
had settled it in his mind that that particular tapir had not many days
to live. In fact, Leon coaxed him to fix the tapir-hunt for the next
morning, which Guapo, with Don Pablo's permission, accordingly did.
Guapo was anxious as any of them to kill the tapir, for, like many
Indians, he was fond of its flesh, though that is by no means a
palatable article of food. On the contrary, it is dry, and to most
people tastes disagreeably. Guapo, however, liked it exceedingly; and,
moreover, he wanted the tough skin for some purpose of his own. The wild
Indians value the skin highly, as it is the best thing they can procure
for "viches," or shields, to ward off the poisoned arrows of their
enemies.
Next morning, an hour or so after daybreak, Guapo started for the hunt,
accompanied by Leon. Don Pablo remained at home with his wife and the
little Leona. Now, had the tapir-hunter possessed a gun, or even a bow
and arrows, his plan of proceedings would have been different, and he
would no doubt have chosen a different hour for the hunt. He would have
chosen the twilight of the evening or morning, and would have hid
himself in the bushes, so as to command a view of the track which the
tapir would be certain to take on his way to or from the water. He would
then have simply shot the creature as it was going past; but this is not
so easy a matter neither, for the tapir, fearful of enemies while on
land, always travels at a trot. As Guapo had neither bow nor gun,
nothing in fact but his _macheté_, how was he to get near enough to use
this weapon? Clumsy-looking as the tapir certainly is, he can shuffle
over the ground faster than the fastest Indian.
Guapo knew all this, but he also knew a stratagem by which the
amphibious brute could be outwitted, and this stratagem he designed
putting in practice. For the purpose he carried another weapon besides
the _macheté_. That weapon was a very pacific one--it was a _spade_!
Fortunately he had one which he had brought with him from the mountains.
Now what did Guapo mean to do with the spade? The tapir is not a
burrowing animal, and therefore would not require to be "dug out." We
shall presently see what use was made of the spade.
After crossing the bridge, and getting well round among the palms, the
hunter came upon a path well tracked into the mud. It was the path of
the tapir,--that could be easily seen. There were the broad
footmarks--some with three, and others with four toes--and there, too,
were places where the animal had "wallowed." The tracks were quite
fresh, and made, as Guapo said, not an hour before they had arrived on
the spot.
This was just what the tapir-hunter wanted; and, choosing a place where
the track ran between two palm-trees, and could not well have gone round
either of them, he halted, rested his _macheté_ against a tree, and took
a determined hold of the spade. Leon now began to see what use he
intended to make of the spade. He was _going to dig a pit_!
That was, in fact, the very thing he was going to do, and in less than
an hour, with the help of Leon, it was done--the latter carrying away
the earth upon "bussu" leaves as fast as Guapo shovelled it out. When
the pit was sunk to what Guapo considered a sufficient depth, he came
out of it; and then choosing some slender poles, with palm-leaves,
branches, and grass, he covered it in such a manner that a fox himself
would not have known it to be a pit-trap. But such it was--wide enough
and deep enough, as Guapo deemed, to entrap the largest tapir.
It now only remained to get the tapir into it, but therein lay the
difficulty. Leon could not understand how this was to be managed. He
knew that at night, as the animal was on its way to the water, it might
step on the covering, and fall in. But Guapo had promised him that he
should see the tapir trapped in an hour's time. Guapo had a plan of his
own for bringing it that way, and he at once proceeded to put his plan
into execution.
They started along the trail going _from_ the water, and towards the
lair of the beast. The hunter knew it would not be very distant--perhaps
a quarter or half-a-mile, perhaps less. Before starting he cautioned
Leon to keep close behind him, and not to make the least noise. So
little as a whisper or the rustling of the brush, he alleged, might
spoil all his plans. Guapo marched, or rather crouched, along; at first
freely, but after some time his step grew more stealthy and cautious. He
knew that he was getting near to his sleeping victim.
After stopping and repeating his caution to his companion, he proceeded
as before until they had got better than a quarter of a mile from the
water. Here they began to ascend a gentle hill, where the ground was
dry, and strewed with fallen trees. At some places the trail was
difficult to make out, and Leon would soon have lost it had he been left
to himself. But there was no fear of Guapo losing it. A hound could not
have followed it more surely.
Suddenly Guapo stopped--then went on a few steps--then stopped a second
time, and made a sign for Leon to come up. Without speaking, he pointed
to a little thicket of scrubby bushes, through the leaves of which they
could just make out some large brown object perfectly at rest. That was
the tapir himself--sound asleep.
Guapo had already instructed his companion that when they should arrive
near the den of the animal, they were to make a wide circuit
around--Leon going one way, while he himself took the other. Both now
drew back a little, and then parted--the hunter going to one side, and
Leon in the opposite direction. After making their circuit, they met at
some distance beyond the back of the den; and then Guapo, telling the
other to follow him, and, without observing any further caution, walked
straight towards where the tapir lay.
The Indian knew by experience that the latter, when roused, would make
directly along its accustomed trail to the water, for to the water it
always flies when alarmed by an enemy. When they had got within a few
paces of the den, a movement was seen among the leaves--then a crackling
noise was heard, as the huge body of the animal broke through the
bushes, and took to flight. He did not trot according to his usual gait,
but went off in a gallop, with his head carried in a singular and
awkward manner between his fore-legs! You have, no doubt, seen a donkey
sometimes gallop in a similar style.
Guapo bounded after, followed by Leon, who kept close at his heels. Of
course the tapir was in sight only a few seconds, but the hunter knew
that he would take the beaten track, and therefore was at no loss. They
made no unnecessary noise--lest the tapir might be frightened from its
path--but ran on in silence.
They soon got back to the pit-fall, Guapo of course leading the way.
"Hola!" cried the latter, when he came in sight of it, "hola, young
master! he's in the trap!"
Sure enough he was; and the next moment they stood upon the edge of the
pit, and beheld the great brown body struggling and tumbling about at
the bottom.
Guapo did not pause a moment, but leaped in, _macheté_ in hand. He had
no fear of the animal biting him, for he knew it would not do so; but
Guapo, in his hurry, had leaped carelessly, and his foot slipping, he
fell over the smooth body of the tapir. The latter in its fright jumped
upward, and the next moment Guapo was _undermost_ at the bottom of the
pit!
The animal had no design of trampling the hunter; but seeing that it
could easily leap out--the pit being shallowed for it by Guapo's body
and the fallen branches--it made a spring, and came out on the edge.
Leon had got round upon the side next the river, but he chanced to be on
the wrong side just then; for the heavy tapir dashing past, knocked
against him, and sent him sprawling among the trees. Before he could
recover himself, or Guapo climb out of the pit, a loud plunge in the
water announced that the animal had escaped to an element where it might
defy their pursuit.
Both were quite crest-fallen and disappointed, but Guapo especially so.
He had prided himself very much on his skill as a tapir-hunter, and his
pride was mortified at the result. He seemed very much chagrined; and as
he and Leon returned toward the house, he stopped at intervals and
looked into the water. Then shaking his macheté in a threatening manner,
cried out,--
"Dive away, old thick-skin! Dive deep as you will, I'll have your hide
yet!"