BREEDS. 429 



wild habits, as if deviating less from the type of the Wild 

 Hog, than in the more temperate countries. 



The Breeds of the British Islands, which may be regarded 

 as native, may be divided into two general classes ; first, 

 those of smaller size, with the ears erect, or tending to erect ; 

 and, secondly, those of larger body, with the ears long and 

 pendent. But between these extremes, there are such de- 

 grees, that numbers cannot be reduced to either class. 



Of the smaller breeds, with sub-erect ears, the most 

 marked are those of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. 

 These creatures are of very small size, usually of a dusky- 

 brown colour, having an arched back, with coarse bristles 

 along the neck and spine. They approach to the aspect of the 

 Wild Hog, without having acquired its habits. They are hardy 

 in a remarkable degree, and adapted to find their food in the 

 situations in which they are placed. They are left to forage 

 for themselves, and have usually no shelter afforded them. 

 They graze on the heathy hills and moors, grubbing up the 

 roots of plants with their strong snouts, and feeding on the 

 sea-coasts on algse, shell-fish, and the bodies of fishes which 

 are cast on shore. In ranging over the hills, they destroy 

 the eggs of plovers, grouse, and other birds, nay devour such 

 new-born lambs as come in their way. They are the pest of 

 the cultivated fields, rooting up the growing potatoes, and 

 committing prodigious havoc in the corn-fields of their care- 

 less masters. They are generally very lean, and their flesh, 

 in this state, is coarse and fibrous ; but when confined and 

 fed in a proper manner, they become fat more quickly than 

 their grisly exterior would indicate. When their principal 

 food is fish, their flesh acquires an oily disagreeable taste. 



The next class of breeds consists of those having a large 

 body, and long pendent ears. These are the races of the 

 lower country, which have been long in the domesticated 

 state. They are of different colours, but are mostly white, 

 or white spotted with black. They fatten slowly, require 

 much food, and are late in arriving at maturity. When fat- 



