428 THE HOG. 



ants ; and it is this transmitted character, as much as the 

 aptitude to fatten, which has induced so general an infusion 

 of the Siamese blood into the breeds of this country. 



Of the other races of Eastern Asia, we scarcely know any 

 thing. In the woods of the large and fertile Island of Papua, 

 or New Guinea, has been found a race of small Hogs, which 

 has been classed as a distinct species, under the name S-us 

 Papuensis. They are destitute of tusks, and the tail is want- 

 ing. The colour is brown, and, in the young state, five 

 streaks of bright yellow extend along the back. The animals 

 are caught by the natives in the woods when young, and re- 

 tained in a state of captivity. 



On the discovery, by European voyagers, of the Islands of 

 the South Seas, a kind of Hog was found in great numbers, 

 affording to the simple natives their principal animal food. 

 He was held by them in a kind of veneration, and was offered 

 up to their divinities as the most acceptable sacrifice. They 

 could give no account of his introduction amongst them, 

 but regarded him as coeval with themselves. They fed him 

 with yams, and such other nutritive plants as the islands 

 produced. His flesh is described by our early voyagers as de- 

 licious, the fat resembling, in delicacy and flavour, the finest 

 butter. It has been doubted by some whether this race is of 

 the widely diffused Siamese breed, or whether it is allied to 

 the Sus Papuensis. or some other species yet undescribed, pro- 

 per to the Islands of the Eastern Seas. None of this breed, 

 so far as is known, has yet been introduced into Europe. 



The Breeds of European countries vary so much, even 

 within the narrowest limits, that no classification of them 

 can be made. In general, it may be said, that the most de- 

 licate Hogs are found in the warmer latitudes. In the cooler 

 countries of richer herbage, as Holland, Belgium, part of 

 Germany, and the north of France, they tend to become large 

 in bulk, having long bodies, and pendent ears. In Sweden, 

 the north of Russia, and the higher latitudes generally, they 

 are frequently of a rufous -brown colour, of small size, and 



