384 ANIMALS OF THE 



animals of the hog kind, they go together in a 

 body, and are often seen in company with the 

 wild boar, with which, however, they are never 

 known to engender. They have a very strong 

 scent, which discovers them to the hounds ; and 

 when pursued they growl dreadfully, often turn- 

 ing back upon the dogs, and wounding them with 

 the tusks of the lower jaw, for those of the upper 

 are rather an obstruction than a defence. They 

 run much swifter than the boar, and have a more 

 exquisite scent, winding the men and the dogs 

 at a great distance. When hunted closely they 

 generally plunge themselves into the sea, where 

 they swim with great swiftness and facility, div- 

 ing and rising again at pleasure ; and in this man- 

 ner they most frequently escape their pursuers. 

 Although fierce and terrible when offended, yet 

 they are peaceable and harmless when unmolest- 

 ed. They are easily tamed, and their flesh is 

 good to be eaten ; but it is said to putrefy in a 

 very short time. They have a way of reposing 

 themselves different from most other animals of 

 the larger kind, which is by hitching one of their 

 upper tusks on the branch of a tree, and then suf- 

 fering their whole body to swing down at ease. 

 Thus suspended from a tooth, they continue the 

 whole night quite secure, and out of the reach of 

 such animals as hunt them for prey. 



The babyrouessa, though by its teeth and tusks 

 it seems fitted for a state of hostility, and proba- 

 bly is carnivorous, yet nevertheless seems chiefly 

 to live upon vegetables and the leaves of trees. 

 It seldom seeks to break into gardens, like the 



