38 



THE PECCARY. 



his views and his principles of strategy. Sometimes, seized 

 with a sudden apprehension, the whole crowd dashed head- 

 long into the various burrows, and vanished quickly, to 

 reappear at a considerable distance, and resume the same 

 devices. It was very curious to observe the braggart ways 

 of these marmots; they seemed as if they would, Sal- 

 moneus-like, defy the thunder, but they fled at the lightest 

 whisper of the breeze ! 



To the American forests belongs the Peccary, a member 

 of the great Suidse or Hog family ; measuring about twenty 



PECCARIES. 



to twenty-four inches in height, and from three to three 

 and a half feet in length. 



The peccary is a gregarious animal, living in herds of 

 from ten to fifty in number. His jaws are armed with 



