546 



THE CLOVEN-HOOFED ANIMALS. 



, I need say nothing about the utilization of the car- 

 cass of the animal; for everybody knows that abso- 

 lutely no part of the body is wasted. 



THE HUMPED HOGS. 

 The Hogs that have so far been considered are 

 followed by the Humped Hogs {Potamochcerus), 

 which are undoubtedly the handsomest members of 

 the entire family. Their distinctive features consist 

 in a bony protuberance situated between eye and 

 nose, an elongated face, a moderately long and finely 

 shaped muzzle, large, narrow, pointed ears, decorated 

 with hairy tufts, a moderately long, bushy tail and 

 four mammjE in the female. 



Dsscription of The Tufted Yiog {Potamoclicerus por- 

 the Tufted cus) the most beautiful of all Swine, 

 ^"9- has been known since the middle of 



the seventeenth century. This animal is consider- 

 ably smaller than the Wild Boar, though it attains, 

 at full growth, a length of from iiv.e feet to five feet 

 four inches, inclusive of the tail, which is ten inches 

 in length; the height at the shoulders ranges from 

 ■twenty-two to twenty-four inches. The skin is cov- 

 ered with short, soft bristles, which are elongated 

 into a weak mane along the course of the spine 

 and develop into tufts beneath the eyes, into stout 

 whiskers on the cheeks and into a bushy tuft at the 

 extremity of the tail, the remaining portion of which 

 is naked along the greater part of its length. 

 The prevailing color of the animal is a fine lustrous 

 brownish red, dashed with yellow. The animal 

 abounds mainly in west Africa, but Boehm mentions 

 having seen it several times in eastern Africa. 



We still have very scanty information concerning 

 the life of the Tufted Hog in a wild state. The 

 Gussfeldt Loango exploring party obtained several 

 young Tufted Hogs. One of them was installed in 

 the Monkey cage, was on excellent terms with its 

 fellow-prisoners and was very amusing by reason of 

 its cheerful, active disposition. Pechuel-Loesche 

 says, in speaking of the wild specimens: "They are 

 lively and very fleet; judging from their trails, they 

 always roam about in considerable herds, especially 

 in damp forests, near rivers, though they are not 

 rare in the mountains. Occasionally one may be 

 heard grunting in the thicket, quite near the traveler, 

 or still more frequently they growl in quite a pecul- 

 iar, contented way. When they are alarmed, they 

 seldom give a sound, but retreat noiselessly, hoping 

 to remain unseen. They are tenacious of life and 

 may go quite a long distance after being struck by a 

 well-aimed bullet. The flesh is savory.'' 



Like all Wild Boars, they endure the change from 

 a torrid to a temperate climate fairly well and usu- 

 ally survive if protected during the severe weather 

 of the winter; they would excite great hopes of 

 successful propagation in captivity if they would 

 only take better care of their young than they have 

 so far done under human supervision. 



The Bush Hog A second species of the genus, the 

 of Southern and Bosch Vark or Bush Hog (Potamo- 

 Eastern Africa, choerus africanus), it is believed, in- 

 habits only southern and eastern Africa. It is some- 

 what larger than the Tufted Hog, has a uniform 

 growth of hair, except a recumbent mane on the 

 neck and rather stout whiskers. The beard and 

 mane are whitish gray, the face is fallow gray, the 

 rest of the body reddish grayish-brown. 

 THE BABIRUSA. 



A very curious Hog lives on Celebes afld' tlie 

 adjacent islands east of it, especially on Sulu, Man- 



gola and Burn. It is much slenderer and has longer 

 legs than all the others of its kin, but is chiefly dis- 

 tinguished by its tusks, which have the appearance 

 of horns, for they attain such great length that they 

 may quite appropriately be compared to those mem- 

 bers. Europeans have simply accepted the original 

 native name, Babirusa, which is equivalent to^'Boar- 

 Deer. The Babirusa differs from all other members 

 of the family by reason of its canines and is justly 

 regarded as the representative of a distinct genus 

 ( Porcus. ) 



Description of The Babirusa {Porcus babyrussd) is an 

 the Babi- animal of comparatively large phys- 

 rusa. ical proportions. Modern sportsmen 



report having seen male Babirusas as large as me- 

 dium-sized Donkeys. The average length of body^ 

 of an adult animal amounts to forty-four inches,, 

 the tail is eight inches in length, the height at the 

 withers and croup is thirty-two inches. The body 

 is elongated, the back slightly arched, the head 

 comparatively small, the legs are long and quite 

 vigorous, each having four toes, and the tail is slen- 

 der and pendent. The canine teeth of the upper 

 jaw of the male Babirusa are extremely long, thin, 

 and pointed, rounded on their front face, later- 

 ally compressed, blunt-edged behind, and directed 

 upwards and at the same time strongly curved 

 backwards, so that they sometimes penetrate into 

 the skin of the forehead when the animal is of an 

 advanced age; they pierce the root of the mouth 

 and curve backward in a crescent shape or even still 

 more markedly. The shorter and thicker tusks of 

 the lower jaw are directed upwards in a straighter 

 manner. The canines' of the female are very short. 

 The hairy coveiring consists of sparse and rather 

 short bristles, which are thickset along the course of 

 the spine, between the numerous wrinkles of the 

 skin and at the extremity of the tail, where they 

 form a small tuft. The skin is thick, hard, rough,, 

 greatly wrinkled and deeply furrowed on the face, 

 around the ears and on the neck. A dingy, ashy 

 gray on the upper and exterior surface and a rusty- 

 red on the inner faces of the limbs are the prevaihng 

 colors; a brownish yellow band^ formed by the tips 

 of the bristly hair, extends along the middle line. 

 The ears are blackish. 

 History, Range and It seems that the Babirusa was- 



Habits of the known to the ancients. Skulls of 

 Babirusa,. ^jjg animal have been known to- 

 naturalists for several hundred years, but skins have 

 ever been rare in Europe, and are so still; the pic- 

 tures have been caricatures and the natural history 

 of the animal consisted of a series of the most in- 

 sipid fables. 



Celebes ,must be regarded as the real native 

 country of the Babirusa, for it is only found there 

 and on the previously mentioned adjacent islands, 

 being absent from the other islands of the Austra- 

 lian Archipelago and also on the Asiatic and Aus- 

 tralian continents. Its habits are similar to those of 

 other Swine. Swampy forests, cane-brakes, moors- 

 and lakes grown with a profusion of aquatic plants, 

 are its favorite haunts. There it assembles into 

 greater or smaller societies, sleeping by day and 

 roaming about by night in search of food, accepting 

 anj'^thing in the line of provender. The Babirusa 

 avoids Man as long as it can, but when driven to 

 bay, it defends itself with the resolute courage com- 

 mon j:o all male Hogs, and its lower canine teeth are 

 such effective^ weapons that they may well inspire 

 the most courageous Man with a sentiment of cau- 



