48 THE HOG. 



follows the sow, and all unite in defence against any enemies, calling 

 upon each other with loud cries in case of emergency, and forming 

 in regular line of battle, the weakest occupying the rear. But when 

 arrived at maturity, the animals wander alone, as if in perfect con- 

 sciousness of their strength, and appear as if they neither sought 

 nor avoided any living creature. They are said to live about thirty 

 years ; as they grow old the hair becomes gray, and the tusks begin 

 to show symptoms of decay. Old boars are rarely found associ- 

 ating with a herd, but seem to keep apart from the rest, and from 

 each other. 



The female produces but one litter in the year, and her litters are 

 much smaller in number than those of the domestic pig ; she carries 

 her young sixteen or twenty weeks, and generally is only seen with 

 the male during the rutting season. She suckles her young for 

 several months, and continues to protect them for some time after 

 wards ; if attacked then, she will defend herself and them with 

 exceeding courage and fierceness. Many sows will often be found 

 herding together, each followed by her litter of young ones, and in 

 such parties they are exceedingly formidable to man and beast. 

 Neither they nor the boar, however, appear to want to attack any 

 thing, but only when roused by aggression, or disturbed in their 

 retreat, do they turn upon their enemies and manifest their mighty 

 strength with which nature has endowed them, otherwise they pur- 

 sue their way in a kind of solitary savage majesty. Occasionally 

 when two males encounter each other, a fierce and furious battle will 

 ensue, especially if this happens during the rutting season, when their 

 passions are inflamed. When attacked by dogs, the wild boar at first 

 sullenly retreats, turning upon them from time to time, and menacing 

 them with his tusks ; but gradually his ire rises, and at length he 

 stands at bay, fights furiously for his life, and tears and rends his 

 persecutors. He has even been observed to single out the most 

 tormenting of them, and rush savagely upon him. 



Hunting the wild boar has been a favorite sport, in almost all the 

 countries in which this animal wife found, from the earliest ages. In 

 all the ancient Grecian and Roman classical writers, some allusions 

 to this animal will be found. Homer, whose vivid portraitures of 

 the actions and habits of princes and warriors nearly thirty years 

 ago, are known to almost every scholar, again and again refers to 

 this savage denizen of the forests, nor can we deny ourselves the 

 pleasure of extracting the following graphic lines : 



" Soon as the morn, new roll'd in purple light, 

 Pierc'd with her golden shafts the rear of night, 

 Ulysses, and his brave maternal race 

 The young Antolici, assay the chase ; 

 Parnassus, thick perplex'd with horrid shades, 

 With deep-mouthed hounds the hunter troop invades j 



