284 



ANIMALS OF 



enemy to the lizard, the toad, and all the ser- 

 pent kinds, with which these uncultivated fo- 

 rests abound. As soon as it perceives a ser- 

 pent, or a viper, it at once seizes it with its 

 fore hoofs and teeth, skins it in an instant, 

 and devours the flesh. This is often seen, and 

 may, therefore, be readily credited : but as to 

 its applying to a proper vegetable immediate- 

 ly after, as an antidote to the poison of the ani- 

 mal it had devoured, this part of the relation 

 we may very well suspect. The flesh, nei- 

 ther of the toad nor viper, as every one knows, 

 are poisonous; and, therefore, there is no 

 need of a remedy against their venom. Ray 

 gives no credit to either part of the actount : 

 however, we can have no reason to disbelieve 

 that it feeds upon toads and serpents ; it is 

 only the in iking use of a vegetable antidote 

 that appears improbable, and which perhaps 

 had its rise in the ignorance and credulity of 

 the natives. 



The peccary, like the hog, is very prolific; 

 the young ones follow the dam, and do not 

 separate till they have come to perfection. 

 If taken at first, they are very easily tamed, 

 and soon lose all their natural ferocity ; how- 

 ever, they never show any remarkable signs 

 of docility, but continue stupid and rude, 

 without attachment, or even seeming to know 

 the hand that feeds them. They only continue 

 to do no mischief; and they may be permitted 

 to run tame without apprehending any dan- 



gerous consequences. They seldom stray 

 far from home ; they return of themselves to 

 the sty ; and do not quarrel among each other, 

 except when they happen to be fed in com- 

 mon. At such times, they have an angry kind 

 of growl, much stronger and harsher than that 

 of a hog ; but they are seldom heard to scream 

 as the former; only now and then, when fright- 

 ed, or irritated, they have an abrupt angrj 

 manner of blowing like the boar. 



The peccary, though like the hog in so 

 many various respects, is, nevertheless, a very 

 distinct race, and will not mrx, nor produce 

 an intermediate breed. The European hog 

 has been transplanted into America, arid sui- 

 fered to run wild among the woods ; it is often 

 seen to herd among a drove of peccaries, but 

 never to breed from them. They may, there- 

 fore, be considered as two distinct creatures; 

 the hog is the larger and the more useful ani- 

 mal ; the peccary, more feeble and local ; the 

 hog subsists in most parts of the world, and in 

 almost every climate ; the peccary is a native 

 of the warmer regions, and cannot subsist in 

 ours, without shelter and assistance. It is 

 more than probable, however, that we could 

 readily propagate the breed of thisquadruped; 

 and that, in two or three generations, it might 

 be familiarized to our climate: but as it is 

 inferior to the hog in every respect, so it 

 would be needless to admit a new domestic, 

 whose services are better supplied in the old. 



CHAPTER XLVHI. 



THE CAPIBARA, OR CABIAI. 



THERE are some quadrupeds so entirely 

 different from any that we are acquainted with, 

 that it is hard to find a well known animal to 

 which to resemble them. In this case, we 

 must be content to place them near such as 

 they most approach in form and habits, so 

 that the reader may at once have some idea 

 of the creature's shape or disposition, although, 

 perhaps, an inadequate and a very confused 

 one. 



Upon that confused idea, however, it will 



be our business to work ; to bring it, by de- 

 grees, to greater precision ; to mark out the 

 differences of form, and thus give the clear- 

 est notions that words can easily convey. 

 The known animal is a kind of rude sketch of 

 the figure we want to exhibit ; from which, 

 by degrees, we fashion out the shape of the 

 creature we desire should be known; as a 

 statuary seldom begins his work, till the rude 

 outline of the figure is given by some other 

 hand. In this manner, I have placed the ca . 



