WILD PIGS 53 



train containing the soldiers stopped at a station, and 

 sold all his wares at a shilling each, as genuine " biltong " 

 or dried meat ! The subsequent remarks of the troops, 

 composed principally of Canadians and Australians, are 

 not related : probably the enterprising trader was 

 fortunate in being too far away to be reached. 



Like the rhinoceros, this beast, though of no apparent 

 use to man, is a survival, now confined to Africa, of an 

 earlier era in the earth's history, and one which it would 

 be sad to see disappear. 



Another species known as the Pigmy Hippopotamus 

 is found in West Africa, in the neighbourhood of Liberia. 



CHAPTER VI 

 WILD PIGS 



THE WARTHOG. Writers describing the warthog 

 generally commence by enlarging upon the hideousness 

 of his appearance. Beauty is of course a relative term, 

 and it must be admitted that the animal in question has 

 neither the gentle comeliness of the gazelle nor the 

 lissom grace of the cat tribe. At the same time, to say 

 he is repulsive in appearance is a little hard. Quaint, 

 no doubt, and so out of the common in featuie that his 

 appearance causes surprise on first acquaintance, but 

 why hideous ? 



The species is spread all over the Ethiopian region, 

 but is now extinct south of the Orange River. It favours 

 lightly forested country, and is never at any great dis- 

 tance from water. It is generally seen in small parties, 

 the boar and sow accompanied by the last litter ; when 

 the latter have become about half grown the boar appears 

 generally to desert his family, and thenceforth the 



