NATURAL HISTORY 25 



been broken. Its owner tried hard to cut me, but 

 might as well have been armed with a hoop. 



The tushes of the plains pig are, in my opinion, 

 bigger on the average than those of the forests. I 

 am only guessing at the size of the latter's tushes. 

 Such pig can only be shot, and their tushes are 

 not a trophy any one could value. A pig, of course, 

 rootles with his nose and under teeth. Is it possible 

 that, to a certain extent, he uses his tushes for this 

 purpose also ? This might account for the difference 

 in the size of tushes. The jungle hog, living chiefly 

 on the fruits and products of the trees, has not the 

 necessity of his plains brother for rootling in the 

 ground for the greater part of his food. 



This extract from a letter of Mr. Branford's is 

 of interest : 



I am certainly of opinion that pig cut with their under 

 jaw spade as much or more than with their tushes ; and 

 I think it likely they dig with it on hard ground, but do 

 not know. I have often examined cuts by both boars and 

 sows that must have been made with the under jaw or 

 spade, and very nasty wounds some of them were. 



All the pig I have seen with fine tushes, pure natural 

 curves 8 inches or 9 inches, were young looking, though 

 big ; and I have never seen a really old-looking pig with 

 good tushes, except in the cases where the upper tush has 

 been broken or fallen, when an ugly circle has been formed. 

 My theory is a good boar seldom keeps good tushes, they 

 are generally found on a cur. 



Your idea about hill and jungle pig eating mostly fruit 

 is undoubtedly sound. All the same, I can show you miles 

 of rootlings on very hard red soil in these hills. 



Had I been asked my opinion as to why pig in one 

 district had larger tushes than in another, I should have 

 said feeding, the same as wild deer and antelope ; but, to 

 tell the truth, I've not noticed much difference in the 

 districts I have hunted in. 



