CHAPTER XVII. 



A PECCARY HUNT ON THE NUECES. 



IN the United States the peccary is only found in the 

 southernmost corner of Texas. In April, 1892, I 

 made a flying visit to the ranch country of this 

 region, starting from the town of Uvalde with a Texan 

 friend, Mr. John Moore. My trip being very hurried, I 

 had but a couple of days to devote to hunting. 



Our first halting-place was at a ranch on the Frio ; a 

 low, wooden building, of many rooms, with open galleries 

 between them, and verandas round about. The country 

 was in some respects like, in others strangely unlike, the 

 northern plains with which I was so well acquainted. It 

 was for the most part covered with a scattered growth 

 of tough, stunted mesquite trees, not dense enough to be 

 called a forest, and yet sufficiently close to cut off the 

 view. It was very dry, even as compared with the 

 northern plains. The bed of the Frio was filled with 

 coarse gravel, and for the most part dry as a bone on 

 the surface, the water seeping through underneath, and 

 only appearing in occasional deep holes. These deep 

 holes or ponds never fail, even after a year's drouth ; they 



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