HIS HABITS. 39 



formidable tusks ; but these are straight, instead of being 

 curved as in the wild boar. They average four to five 

 inches in length, and prove very dangerous weapons of 

 offence or defence. Though somewhat awkward in appear- 

 ance, like all of his tribe, his movements are exceedingly 

 rapid ; and the strength of his head, neck, and shoulders 

 is such that few things can withstand his impetuous onset. 



The hunter knows from experience that the peccary 

 never hesitates to charge at any object or animal that 

 comes in his way, and that, therefore, when overtaken by 

 one, his only resource is flight. As he habitually rushes 

 headlong on whatever interrupts his progress, and will 

 fight until he dies, it is useless to make head against him ; 

 the wounds suffered in the contest take away all the plea- 

 sure of victory ! He must be hunted with skill and cau- 

 tion, and brought down by a rifle-bullet from some con- 

 venient covert. 



The peccary feeds on berries, acorns, roots, sugar-canes, 

 seeds, and on the smaller reptiles, making his den in the 

 midst of the tufted and luxuriant cane-bushes which, in 

 marshy localities, grow round the tall and ancient trees. 

 The wind and the lightning seem to attack in preference 

 the isolated oaks and maples, the giants of the Texan 

 forests, and they are frequently to be seen lying prone on 

 the river-bank, and overgrown with a profuse net-work of 

 lianas and wild vines. The trunks of these trees, which 

 ordinarily measure twenty-five to thirty feet in girth, are 

 generally hollow, and furnish the peccaries with a nocturnal 

 asylum. They retire every evening into a trunk capacious 

 enough to hold twenty or thirty of them, and there they 



