126 SPOET IN NORTH AJVIERICA. 



the two bright eyes of the sentinel peccary, he 

 takes good aim and fires. If the aim has been a 

 good one, the brute leaps out of the hole and rolls 

 over on the ground. Scarcely, however, has the 

 hunter time to reload when a growl is heard, and 

 two more eyes are visible in the place of the sentinel 

 who has been compelled to vacate his post. A 

 second shot is followed by the same result, and so 

 on, until there is not a peccary left in the tree. It 

 sometimes happens, however, that the peccaries, irri- 

 tated by the frequent discharges, will make a rush 

 from the tree, in which case the hunter has as much 

 as he can do to take care of himself. If the shot 

 does not succeed in dislodging one of the peccaries, 

 and he lies dead, obstructing the aperture, the animal 

 behind him, unable to find any other exit, pushes 

 him out. 



These creatures have no idea of danger, and 

 their instinct does not warn them of it. One after 

 another they meet it without fear. They never, 

 however, advance to attack an enemy whom they 

 cannot see, or if the hunter does not guide them 

 towards him by moving the branches which con- 

 ceal him, or by some noise. Incredible as these 

 particulars may seem, I declare that this mode of 

 hunting the peccary is followed by the inhabitants of 

 Texas. At Canney Creek and Brazos Bottom, 

 where, about 1848, the country was infested with 

 peccaries, now-a-days, thanks to the exertions of 



