Information respecting Zoological Travellers. 403 



upon the cheeks and lips ; and the hair about the head is so long 

 that it almost covers the ears. The young are of a chestnut colour, 

 and their cry resembles the bleating of a goat, Their manner of 

 feeding and habits in general are not different from thePeccari, but 

 they travel together in herds of several hundreds. They are more 

 fierce when hunted, and often kill the dogs that attack them by rip- 

 ping them up with their tusks ; and they are also known to have at- 

 tacked the huntsman. When they once take to flight they can be 

 followed without much danger, as they seldom retain their courage 

 or turn round upon their pursuers. The Jaguars commit great car- 

 nage among them ; they remain generally in the rear and seize upon 

 the last and all stragglers ; but it is asserted by the Indians, and cor- 

 roborated by wood-cutters and others who live in the interior, that 

 the white-lipped Peccaris frequently surround the Jaguar and tear 

 their enemy to pieces. 



Of all the rivers in British Guiana, the Berbice offered the greatest 

 difficulties to our ascent, either in the shape of cataracts or from 

 large trees, which we frequently found lying across where the river 

 narrowed, which either the wind or age had prostrated. Our ad- 

 vance amounted on the 2nd of January (1837) scarcely to two miles, 

 the trees which barricaded our passage were so numerous. While 

 we were thus engaged in cutting through a large mora- tree, one of 

 the Indians who had been straying about, brought us information 

 that a herd of the larger Peccari were feeding at a short distance 

 from a river. Our guns were put immediately in requisition, and off 

 we started. 



Akuritsh, the Caribi, armed with bow and several iron-headed ar- 

 rows, accompanied us. I came first up with the herd and found 

 them in a pool of water, w T here they wallowed in the mire like the 

 common hog. One stood apart apparently as watch ; and scarcely 

 had it perceived me, when the bristles on its back rose erect, and 

 turning round towards me, it began chattering with its teeth, and 

 the whole herd rose : not a moment elapsed, and it lay prostrated in 

 the mud pierced by my rifle-ball. How can I describe the bustle 

 and the rush of several hundred, which at the report of the gun 

 were seen flying in the opposite direction ! an Indian w r ho had come 

 up by this time shot another, and the retreat was now complete. 

 I had loaded again, but hesitated to wade through the swamp, when 

 the Arawak chieftain Mathias, who had observed my hesitation, 

 requested me to lend him my rifle ; I gave it him, and he started 

 off, while I remained at the spot where I first fell in with them. I 

 heard four or five shots fall, apparently at some distance, and while 



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