THE WHITE-LIPPED PECCARY. 497 



till the hunter comes up. If the sportsman has no dog, he mounts a tree 

 and imitates the bay of a hound. The Peccaries, with every bristle set 

 on end, surround the tree from which the voice of their hereditary foe is 

 heard, and gnash their teeth. If the hunter is armed with bow and 

 arrows he can kill several of the animals, but the report of a gun scatters 

 them. At times this method has an unfortuate termination. An Indian 

 who had thus attracted a herd to a tree, was unlucky enough to find the 

 branch upon which he was seated give way beneath him ; he caught hold 

 of another as he fell, but his feet were so near the ground that the Pec- 

 caries began to bite them. He managed to struggle out of the way, 

 when the herd attacked the musket which he had dropped, and tore the 

 stock to pieces. The Indians are always glad to drive the Tagnicates 

 into a river, for although they swim well, they are comparatively help- 

 less. The Indians leap into the stream and hit them on the snout with a 

 stick ; a few blows dispatches a Peccary. The Tagnicates are hunted 

 for their flesh as well as on account of the damage they do. In the 

 plantations a large pit is often dug, into which dogs and men drive the 

 intruders, which are then killed by lance-thrusts. 



The young Peccary can be easily tamed, and becomes as tame as our 

 pigs ; it is soon attached to its new home and new companions, especially 

 to the men about it, whose voices it knows and whom it loves to accom- 

 pany in their walks. It will announce the approach of strangers by its 

 grunts, and attacks fiercely all strange dogs. The Tagnicate especially 

 shows itself susceptible of domestication. 



The flesh of both the species of Peccary is eaten by the Indians ; it is 

 said to have a pleasant taste, not at all like pork. If the animal has been 

 hunted, the dorsal gland must be at once cut out, otherwise the whole 

 flesh contracts its disgusting odor. 



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63 



