592 New Publications. 



ed ; and so pleasing must this operation prove to them, that they gra- 

 dually lie down on the ground and give signs of their great delight by 

 a low grunt. In a tame as well as in a wild state they show the great- 

 est aversion to dogs ; in a domesticated state their bristles rise and 

 they begin attacking the enemy with their tusks. When hunted they 

 make a desperate resistance, and severely wound dogs that are not ac- 

 customed to hunt them. Those which have been trained by tbe Indians 

 separate one from the herd and keep it at bay until the huntsman ar- 

 rives to shoot it with his arrow ; the dog then sets oif after the herd 

 again and acts in like manner. I have known a hunter with a well- 

 trained dog to bring three and four hogs as the fruit of his hunting ex- 

 cursion. The Indian who is not provided with a dog, on coming up 

 with a herd climbs the first tree, and begins to imitate the barking of a 

 dog ; if young ones should be among the herd, at which period they are 

 particularly fierce, this sound is quite sufficient to urge them to attack, 

 and they soon gather in numbers round the tree, threatening with 

 their tusks. This is the time for the Indian to discharge among them 

 the contents of his gun, if provided with one, and with what success 

 may be imagined : off sets the herd in full flight ; the Indian is equally 

 quick to follow them, and should he be nimble-footed enough to - 

 outstrip them and to get before the herd, he climbs another tree, and 

 again imitating the barking of a dog, he is sure to assemble them in 

 full rage around the tree, and has opportunity of firing a second shot 

 at them. This method is now frequently practised, where guns, and 

 even double-barrelled ones, are no rarity among the Indians of the 

 coast regions. An Arawak Indian from the Lower Essequibo nearly 

 paid this ruse with his life ; the branch on which he sat when he was 

 about to fire among the incensed herd which had gathered round the 

 tree, broke, and he would have fallen among them if he had not caught 

 one of the lower branches, not high enough however from the ground 

 to be entirely out of their reach. His legs were almost literally torn 

 to pieces by their triangular tusks ; still he did not let go his hold, and 

 kept presence of mind enough to try to swing himself upon the branch, 

 in which he at last succeeded. Their victim having escaped, they ex- 

 hausted their ire on the gun, and at length left the Indian, who in spite 

 of the loss of blood crawled homewards and escaped narrowly with 

 his life. 



Their flesh is savoury, though drier and leaner than that of the 

 hog ; but precaution must be taken soon after the animal has been 

 killed to cut off that part on the back which contains the glands, 

 otherwise it communicates a musky taste to the meat. They form 



