126 HOG-KIND. WILD BOAR. 



fruits of the earth, or the labours of agriculture, which 

 it devours in an instant. In vain do the natives attempt 

 to repel its inroads : its skin is so thick and strong as to 

 be impenetrable to the stroke of a sabre, though it yields 

 to a musket-ball ; and, if it feels itself only slightly wound- 

 ed, its fury against the assailants is terrible. It generally, 

 however, takes to the water on the first appearance of 

 real danger ; and here, in its native element, it manifests 

 all its strength and resolution. " I have seen," says a 

 traveller, " one of these animals open its jaws, and, seiz- 

 ing a boat between its teeth, at once bite and sink it to 

 the bottom. I have seen it, on another occasion, place 

 itself under one of our boats, and, rising, overset the ves- 

 sel, with six men in it." 



The female always produces its young on land, and 

 seldom more than one at a time. They live in families ; 

 every male having several under its protection. The 

 flesh of the young is said to be~excellent ; and the negroes, 

 who, indeed, are not very delicate in their taste, never 

 reject that of the old. According to Belon, the hippo- 

 potamus is capable of being tamed ; and he mentions 

 one which was so gentle as to be let loose out of a stable, 

 and fed by its keeper without attempting any mischief. 



THE HOG-KIND. 



Animals of this genus seem to unite in themselves all 

 those distinctions by which others are separated. They 

 resemble the horse in the number of their teeth, the length 

 of their head, and in having but a single stomach ; they 

 resemble the cow in their cloven hoofs, and the position 

 of their intestines : and they resemble the claw -footed tribe 

 in their appetite for flesh, and their numerous progeny. 



THE WILD BOAR. 



This animal, which may be considered as the parent- 

 Stock of our domestic swine, is by no means the filthy, de- 



