HOG KIND. 377 



be deferred for only half an hour, the flesh be- 

 comes utterly unfit to be eaten. 



The peccary is extremely numerous in all the 

 parts of Southern America. They go in herds 

 of two or three hundred together, and unite, 

 like hogs, in each other's defence. They are 

 particularly fierce when their young are attempt- 

 ed to be taken from them. They surround the 

 plunderer, attack him without fear, and frequent- 

 ly make his life pay the forfeit of his rashness. 

 When any of the natives are pursued by a herd 

 in this manner, they frequently climb a tree to 

 avoid them ; while the peccaries gather round 

 the root, threaten with their tusks, and their 

 rough bristles standing erect, as in the hog kind, 

 they assume a very terrible appearance. In this 

 manner they remain at the foot of the tree for 

 hours together ; while the hunter is obliged to 

 wait patiently, and not without apprehensions, 

 until they think fit to retire. 



The peccary is rather fond of the mountainous 

 parts of the country than the lowlands ; it seems 

 to delight neither in the marshes nor the rnud, 

 like our hogs ; it keeps among the woods, where 

 it subsists upon wild fruits, roots, and vegetables ; 

 it is also an unceasing enemy to the lizard, the 

 toad, and all the serpent kinds, with which these 

 uncultivated forests abound. As soon as it per- 

 ceives a serpent, or a viper, it at once seizes it 

 with its fore hoofs and teeth, skins it in an in- 

 stant, and devours the flesh. This is often seen, 

 and may, therefore, be readily credited ; but as 

 to its applying to a proper vegetable immediately 



