248 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Singular mode of reposing. 



roussa seems adapted for a state of hostility, it 

 subsists principally upon vegetables and th< 

 leaves of trees; and in general it lives remote 

 from mankind, seldom seeking to break into gar- 

 dens, like the boar, in order to pillage the more 

 succulent productions of human industry. It 

 may be easily domesticated, and its flesh is said 

 to be tolerable food, though it soon becomes pu- 

 trescent. 



These animals have a singular mode of repos- 

 ing themselves ; which is, according to the ac- 

 count of a celebrated naturalist, by hitching one 

 of their upper tusks on the branch of a tree, and 

 then suffering their whole body to swing douu 

 at ease. Thus suspended from a tooth, they con- 

 tinue the whole night quite secure, and out of 

 the reach of such animals as hunt them for prey. 



They live in herds like animals of the hog. 

 kind, and have a very strong scent, which disco- 

 vers them to the hounds. They run much swifter 

 than the wild-boar, and when pursued, they 

 growl dreadfully, often turning upon the dogs, 

 and wounding them with the tusks of the lower 

 jaw. v When closely pursued, they plunge into 

 the sea, where they swim with great facility ; div- 

 ing and rising again at pleasure. 



The barbyroussa is a native of Borneo, in the 

 East Indies, and is also found in many other parts 

 of Asia and Africa. 



