BABYROUSSA. 109 



much expedition as a mole. That these animals are 

 capable of being tamed is evident, from the circumstance 

 of one of them, which was brought into Holland, having 

 become almost domestic. His savage disposition, how- 

 ever, in one instance, so far prevailed, that he wounded 

 his keeper so desperately in the thigh, that the man died 

 the next day. 



The principal difference, in appearance, betwixt this 

 animal and the hog, consists in a pair of large and 

 hideous-looking wattles beneath the eyes. The snout 

 also is much broader, and there are no fore-teeth in 

 either jaw. 



Babyromsa. These animals, which are of a naturally 

 harmless disposition, and shun the haunts of men, live 

 in herds, and subsist on plants and the leaves of shrubs 

 and trees. If pursued, they seek for refuge by plung- 

 ing into the water, where they swim with great dex- 

 terity. Their faculty of smelling is so acute, that it is 

 not easy to approach their station without being dis- 

 covered. When pursued, they will frequently turn on 

 and furiously attack the invaders of their peace, en- 

 deavouring to wound them with their tusks. There is a 

 notion, that when this animal rests, it suspends itself by 

 the curved tusks of the upper jaw, upon the lower branches 

 of trees. It has even been asserted, that it can bear 

 suspension by these tusks, for a whole night, without 

 experiencing the least annoyance. 



The Babyroussa, which is a native of the Indian 

 islands, is of much slenderer form than the hog. Its 

 head is long and narrow ; the eyes are small ; and the ears 

 likewise small, erect, and pointed. It has two crooked 

 tusks, each about twelve inches in length, resembling 

 horns, which penetrate through the upper part of the 



