Liberia *•- 



the genus Potamochcerus are marked with light-coloured spots 

 and stripes during immaturity ; but this spotted condition has 

 passed away from the young wart hogs, from the babirusa, 

 and, it is generally asserted, from the young of the domestic pig. 

 It is, however, interesting to observe that the domestic pigs 

 of Liberia frequently produce young that are marked in the 

 orthodox way with horizontal and vertical whitish stripes. 

 Either this is due to some degree of hybridising with the red 

 river hog, or these domestic pigs of Liberia are descended 

 from a more primitive stock nearer to the original wild boar, 

 and have retained or regained this archaic feature of the 

 spotted young. 



The Red river hog in Liberia, as in so many other parts 

 of forested Africa, is readily tamed when caught young. It 

 is, in fact, the only indigenous African animal that the Negro 

 has made even a slight attempt to domesticate. The Red river 

 hog exists (we were told by Schweinfurth)in a semi-domesticated 

 state amongst the Mangbettu of the Nile-Congo watershed, 

 and it is occasionally tamed in parts of the Lower Niger and 

 West Africa. 



Although mostly reared in captivity, and very willing to 

 mingle with herds of domestic swine, no Negro race has yet 

 succeeded in getting this pig established as a domestic animal. 

 The single examples that are caught and tamed from time to 

 time do not seem to be encouraged to breed with their own 

 species ; all they do is to inter-breed with the domestic pig (if 

 any are present), and thus to some extent influence that 

 race. 



The flesh of the Red river hog is excellent eating, 

 equally appreciated by black men and white. It is, as I have 

 said, a really handsome animal, and the Liberians would do 

 well to make a determined efl^ort whilst it is still common in 



720 



