THE HOG. 397 



attacked with spears by the Malays and other natives, from 

 canoes, and slain in such numbers that the waters are dyed 

 with their blood. The people preserve their skins and fat, 

 which last is melted, and used in place of butter or oil. In- 

 dividuals are easily tamed, and they could, doubtless, be sub- 

 jected in any number to permanent servitude. A male and 

 female were brought by the Astrolabe to Paris : the female 

 bred after arriving in Europe, but the progeny perished in 

 the second or third year, of diseased lungs, from the effects 

 of cold ; the male lived the usual term, and became very fat, 

 feeding and grovelling in the manner of common swine. The 

 female used to cover him with straw, and slip underneath the 

 litter, so that both remained concealed from view. 



The MASKED AFRICAN BOAR, or Wood Swine of the Cape 

 Colonists, Sus larvatus, is a native of Madagascar, and the 

 south of Africa. He has a larger head and shorter neck 

 than the common Swine, and he has a fleshy excrescence on 

 each side of the face beneath the eyes, giving him a savage 

 and hideous aspect. He dwells in holes which he has ex- 

 cavated. He is ferocious, prompt, and swift of foot : he 

 does not court a contest with enemies, but, when molested 

 in his lonely cavern, he rushes forth upon his assailants 

 with resistless fury, snapping their limbs asunder in an in- 

 stant, and ripping them up with his for midable tusks. The 

 natives say they would as soon encounter a Lion as a "Wood 

 Swine. 



Whether these fierce and powerful creatures breed with 

 the domestic species is not known. Sparrman states, that he 

 saw two of them at the house of a farmer in the province of 

 Jjange-Kloof perfectly tame. They went down on their knees 

 to graze, and changed their posture to that of standing with 

 the greatest ease. An individual of this species was sent by 

 the Governor of the Cape of Good Hope to the Hague, in 

 1763, as a present to the Prince of Orange. He was gentle, 

 except when offended, and then his keepers were afraid to 

 approach him. But, for the most part, whenever his cage 



