THE PECCARY. 359 



not to speak of their fetid gland, which is said to communi- 

 cate a very disagreeable savor to their flesh if not removed 

 immediately after death, the flesh itself is decidedly inferior 

 to pork both in flavor and fatness : their productiveness, also, 

 bears no comparison to that of the sow, the female bringing 

 forth but once a year, and producing no more than two young 

 ones at a birth. The experiment of breeding them has, how- 

 ever, we are informed, been tried in various parts of the con- 

 tinent of South America, and in some of the West India 

 Islands ; but we are not aware of the extent to which it has 

 succeeded, or whether the project has not been altogether laid 

 aside. 



Both the species of this group appear to be- more or less 

 common throughout the whole of South America. They in- 

 habit only the thickest and most extensive forests, and take 

 up their dwellings in the hollows of trees or in burrows formed 

 in the earth by other animals. They are rarely found in any 

 considerable numbers in the neighborhood of vilages, but 

 sometimes commit great devastation among the sugar-canes, 

 the maize, the manihot, and the potatoe crops. They are 

 generally said to be extremely savage, but the difference be- 

 tween the two species in this respect, as well as in various 

 other particulars of manners and disposition, appears to be 

 even more strongly marked than that which distinguishes 

 their external form. 



The Collared Peccary is smaller than the other species, sel- 

 dom measuring fully three feet in length, and rarely weigh- 

 ing more than fifty pounds. Its general color is a yellowish 

 gray, resulting from the manner in which the bristles are mar- 

 ked by alternate rings of grayish straw-color and black. A 

 row of long black bristles extends backwards from between 

 the ears, forming a somewhat erectile mane on the back of 

 the neck, and becoming gradually longer as they approach 

 the tail. The face is more grizzled with yellow than any 

 other part, with the exception of a narrow oblique line of yel- 

 low-pointed hairs, which passes from behind the shoulders to 

 the fore part of the neck, and from which the specific name of 



