xvn THE BOAR 307 



are exhibited in the little ones, which follow their mother wherever 

 she may lead them, and never appear to exhibit any signs of 

 weariness. They generally are gregarious, and in India, parties of 

 twenty to thirty may be seen together, but in Ceylon I have seen 

 hundreds in a herd. 



I have never seen such large boars in any portion of the world 

 as in Ceylon. The reason is evident, that food is plentiful 

 throughout the year; therefore, with plenty of water in which 

 they can wallow at all seasons, and roots, snakes, dead animals, 

 and every conceivable material upon which a pig will fatten, 

 Ceylon is a perfect pig's paradise, unsurpassed for true enjoy- 

 ment. 



The wild pig of Northern Africa is the same as the European 

 species, but there is a distinct variety throughout the entire area 

 of Central Africa and a portion of the south which differs 

 materially from the ordinary pig ; this is the wart hog, Sus 

 Africanus. This animal is superlatively ugly : the head is dis- 

 proportioned to the size of the hog ; the tusks are so enormous 

 that they appear as though they had belonged to some much 

 larger creature, and had merely been assumed as masquerade ; 

 there are two prominent protuberances upon either side of the 

 eyes, also two pendulous warts of large and hideous growth ; and 

 when this ugly monster becomes excited, it cocks a long thin tail, 

 with bristles upon either side, like that of an elephant. This 

 appendage is carried straight in the air, as stiff as a stick, which 

 gives the animal a ridiculous appearance. 



The boar of this species does not attain the same great size as 

 those of Europe and Asia, and the usual weight when cleaned 

 would be about 170 Ibs. There is a striking peculiarity in the 

 formation of the teeth, as this is the only animal, except the 

 elephant, which possesses the arrangement for a continual repro- 

 duction from the rear of the molars. 



This extraordinary animal possesses, in the upper jaw, two 

 incisors, six molars, and two tusks ; in the lower jaw, six incisors, 

 six molars, and two tusks. The molars are most peculiar, being 

 formed of three parallel rows of cylinders of hard enamel, united 

 vertically by a less hard cement, which forms a solid block some- 

 what similar to the molar of an elephant. The rear molar is 2^ 

 inches in length, -| inch in breadth, and the front molar, -| inch in 

 length. The lower or cutting tusks protrude 4^ inches from the 

 lip, and the upper tusks project 8-f inches, and each is 5 inches 

 circumference ; these, as in the ordinary boar, form a whetstone, 

 against which the lower cutting tusks are sharpened by gnashing 



