A WILD-HOG HUNT IN TEXAS. 325 



aid and encouragement of the hunter, they are sure to be 

 "routed," and some of their number destroyed. Indeed, 

 this little creature, of not more than two feet in length, 

 is a match for the stoutest bull-dog ! I have myself seen 

 a peccary (a caged one, too) that had killed no less than 

 six dogs bull and mastiff breed all of them considered 

 fighting dogs of first-rate reputation. 



My first introduction to the peccary was of such a re- 

 markable character, that I am not likely to forget the 

 event. It gave me, among the frontier settlers of Texas, 

 the reputation of a " mighty hunter," though how far I 

 deserved that name the reader may judge for himself. 



I was for some weeks the guest of a farmer or " planter," 

 who had lived on Trinity Bottom. We had been out in 

 the "timber" several times, and had killed bear, deer, 

 and turkeys, but had not yet had the luck to fall in with 

 the peccary, although we never went abroad without see- 

 ing their tracks or some other indications of what my 

 friend termed " peccary sign." The truth is that these 

 animals possess the sense of smell in the keenest degree ; 

 and they are usually hidden long before the hunter can 

 see them or come near them. As we had gone without 

 dogs, of course we were not likely to discover which cf 

 the nine hundred and ninty-nine hollow logs passed in a 

 day, was the precise one in which the peccaries had 

 taken shelter. I had grown very curious about these 



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