WILD 1!0\R.] 



V\C,S, AM) Til 1:1 K VARIOUS liRllKDS. 



[wild BOAn. 



tusks, are terrible weapons: rushing on his 

 antagonist, the boar strikes obliiiucly upwanls, 

 right and left, with prodigious force — a mode 

 of action the best calculated for bringing these 

 weapons into ellL-ctivo play, and in which the 

 muscular powers of the neck and sliouldcrs are 

 the most advantageously and naturally exerted. 



The hog is found in both continents; but 

 the American animals are so diflerent from 

 those of the eastern continent, that they require 

 to be separated as a distinct sub-genus. They 

 are much smaller than those of the oast, but 

 less useful, and more limited in their distribu- 

 tion, being met with only in the humid woods ! 

 of the central parts of South America, to the 

 eastward of the Andes. In some parts of these . 

 woods, however, they are very numerous. In 

 every part of the globe they delight in humid 

 localities, reposing in the sun by the margins ^ 

 of pools and streams, wandering amongst mud 

 or mire ; or, in the absence of anything better, 

 basking by the side of some soft dung-heap. 

 They are much more extensively distributed 

 in the east tlian iu the west — in Asia than in 

 America ; but it is iu the damp forests of 

 tropical countries where they most abound. 

 In some of the more central parts, and in tlie 

 south of Europe, they are plentiful, but not so 

 extensively distributed as they once seem to 

 have been. In Britain the wild race is ex- 

 tinct; but tradition has handed down to us 

 records of their having, at one period, abounded. 

 In the remote islands of the Pacific they are 

 still general ; whilst, in the more densely 

 wooded portions of Africa, and south-eastern 

 Asia, they are to be found in largo herds. In 

 some parts, however, there is considerable dif- 

 ficulty in distinguishing between the wood hog, 

 which is the native, or aboriginal, and such as 

 have been introduced from other countries, and 

 naturalised in their new regions ; as these, 

 having been turned loose into the woods, have 

 multiplied, assumed the habits of the wild 

 species, and proportionately lost many of their 

 own original characteristics. 



In no essential point does the wild race of 

 Europe differ from our domestic breeds, saving 

 that the snout is more elongated, and, as miglit 

 be expected, the contour of the frame is more 

 gaunt and bony. The ears are short and erect, 

 the tusks large, and the bristles long and 

 coarse; the general colour is rusty-black, or 

 5d 



blackish brown, more or less brindled ia 

 patches. After the ago of tlireo years tlio 

 wild boar leads a solitary life in the forest, 

 fearless of every foe, and confident in his 

 weapons, which, added to his great strength, 

 render him a formidable antagonist. It is not, 

 however, until the ago of five or six years that 

 he attains to his full dimensions, and the dura- 

 tion of his life is from twenty-five to tliirty 

 years. The females, with their young, asso- 

 ciate in herds, for the sake of mutual protec- 

 tion. On tho approach of an enemy the young 

 are placed in tho centre, the old ones forming 

 a circle round them; and should ho be hazard- 

 ous enough to venture on tho attack, he meets 

 with a rough reception. It is thus that the 

 young are preserved from wolves, the chief foes 

 to be dreaded by them ; to which, in some dis- 

 tricts, they often fall a prey, notwithstanding 

 the vigilance of their parent. It is only in 

 defence of their offspring that the females are 

 furious ; but the old males are not to be ap- 

 proached without caution, and often rush out 

 upon those who venture near the precincts of 

 their lair. At certain seasons, indeed, the wild 

 boar is very savage ; and should he meet a rival, 

 the most sanguinary combat ensues. The wild 

 boar of Europe is now, however, by no means 

 the terrible animal he once was ; nor is he 

 hunted in the German forests in the same 

 brave and adventurous spirit which, in former 

 ages, mark the spirit of the Teutons. This is 

 evidenced by the present style of hunting the 

 boar in Germany, where he still roams in free- 

 dom, and where he is still hunted, but in a 

 manner which appears to us very unsportsman- 

 like. As a proof of this, we will describe tho 

 manner in which his serene highness of Co- 

 burg enjoys the sport. 



About four miles i'rom Coburg, and a little 

 to the westward of Ivoseuau, rise several abrupt 

 hills, clothed to the summits with pine woods, 

 altogether occupying a space of a thousand 

 acres. These are tho boar preserves of his 

 highness; and having been honoured by a 

 visit from her most gracious majesty Queen 

 Victoria, they had earned for themselves 

 an extraordinary prestige. The person who 

 describes this scene was directed to be iu 

 attendance on the chamberlain of the hogs at 

 five o'clock precisely ; and exactly at that hour, 

 as ho made across certain fields of flax lying 



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