12 FOREST CREATURES. 



boar cannot wound cZozc 7i-wards, but rips 2tj9-wards 

 only, as he passes and goes on. But she, ^Yere you to 

 try such stratagem with her, would turn it to her 

 advantage and your sorrow ; for you would never get 

 up again whole and sound ; maybe not rise at all. Yet 

 the he and the she-boar, if let alone, mil harm no one ; 

 on the contrary, they flee at man's approach. 



They have good qualities wdthal, and highly estimable, 



these bristly, tmgainly denizens of the forest. They 



are a social race, and have a taste for family life. INlany 



families live together, forming thus a little community ; 



and it is surely a good feature in their character that 



even though so many of the gentler sex are thus brought 



together, and although conflicting interests are naturally 



present, there is really no quarrelling. Harmony and 



good fellowship prevail. It must, however, in justice 



to other fair, be stated that one chief cause for jealousy 



and disharmony does not exist here : there are none of 



the other sex among them to create heart-burnings, 



fancied slights, rivalry, and discord. The only males that 



are in such families are too young and insignificant to 



excite jealousy or spite : they are either the babes and 



sucklings of the present or the hobberdehoys of the last 



year : and what the status of a hobberdehoy is, w^e all 



know and have felt. The old boar is a surly, grumpy 



fellow ; somewhat of a misanthrope, and liking greatly 



to be alone. The company of the females and the 



