THE WHITE-LIPPED PECCARY. 495 



caries. Schomburgk, whose accounts are perfectly trustworthy, writes: 

 " As we were passing through a woody oasis I heard a peculiar noise 

 like the galloping of horses. With the cry ' Poinka ! ' the Indians cocked 

 their guns and drew their bows, and soon an innumerable herd of Dec- 

 caries came in sight. When they saw us they stopped in their charge 

 for an instant, then grunting loudly rushed past us. I was so surprised 

 by the sudden appearance of the creatures that I forgot to shoot at first, 

 and raised my gun to make up for lost time, but my arm was seized by 

 an Indian. When the main herd was past and some stragglers came in 

 sight, the Indians began to use bow and gun. They affirmed that it was 

 most dangerous to fire into the middle of a herd, for the peccaries dis- 

 persed in all directions, and tore with their tusks every living thing that 

 came in their way ; while if the stragglers only are attacked, the main 

 body pursues its course." In Webber's Romance of Natural History there 

 is a very amusing account, tob long to be quoted, of the consternation 

 caused during a bear-hunt by a charge of peccaries which scattered 

 men, dogs, and bear in a common confusion. Another traveler writes as 

 follows: "While pushing my way through a wood my dog started a 

 peccary ; suddenly eight or ten burst through the underwood, and 

 before I could realize the scene had finished my unlucky companion with 

 their sharp teeth. I suddenly found myself surrounded ; I killed several, 

 but it was no use; my ammunition was soon expended, and it was only 

 by clubbing my gun that I fought my way to a tree, and with more than 

 one wound from their incisors, reached a secure position. Here I 

 remained besieged till they dispersed." 



THE WHITE-LIPPED PECCARY. 



The Tagnicate, or White-lipped Peccary, Dicotylcs labiatns, is 

 larger than the preceding animal, assembles in larger herds, is fiercer in 

 its disposition, and works more woe to the farmer. 



The White-lipped Peccary derives its name from a band of white 

 hairs that crosses the upper jaw, and covers nearly the whole of the 

 lower. The color of the adult animal is black-brown, flecked with a 

 gray grizzle, but when young it is striped. A slight mane runs along 

 its neck, and its ears are fringed with long and stiff hairs. It is a most 

 mischievous animal, as it makes long marches over the country, ravaging 

 the crops in its progress, and always choosing, with a perversely e.Kcel- 



