426 THE HOG. 



of Europe, and the females do not yield the same quantity 

 of milk ; but they arrive very soon at maturity, they fatten 

 on a small quantity of food, and their flesh is white and 

 delicate. 



The varieties of this widely extended race with which we 

 are chiefly conversant in this country, are derived from 

 China, being brought hither as sea-stock, or otherwise, by 

 the vessels employed in the trade which England has so long 

 carried on with the Chinese empire. They have usually the 

 dark colour characteristic of the race, but they are often also 

 white, and of a size exceeding the medium ; for in China 

 there are varieties of breeds, just as in other countries. 

 Some of them kept in the temples attain, in cqnsequence of 

 age and long fattening, to enormous magnitude ; but it does 

 not appear that these sacred pigs are any otherwise distin- 

 guished from the common breeds. The Chinese race with 

 which we are chiefly familiar, is derived from the neighbour- 

 hood of Canton. Those of the interior, or bordering on the 

 Tartar countries, are little known to us. 



It is well known that the Chinese feed more largely on 

 pork than on any other kind of animal food. To this cause 

 some have attributed the rejection by the Chinese of the 

 Mohammedan faith. However this be, the flesh of the Hog 

 appears to have been long the food of this singular people, 

 and the animal itself is almost the only considerable quadru- 

 ped except the Dog, which is cultivated by them for human 

 subsistence. It is said that they sometimes use the milk of 

 the Sow ; at least, there is reason to believe that they supply 

 with this substance the strangers who visit them. The Eng- 

 lish merchants and sailors who arrive at the port of Canton 

 are thus unconsciously furnished with a substance, perfectly 

 wholesome and nutritious, it may be believed, but the use of 

 which is revolting to the habits of Europeans. 



The Chinese pay a minute care to the rearing and feeding 

 of an animal so important to them as a mean of subsistence : 

 but the information of travellers is exceedingly scanty with 



