THICK-SKINNED QUADKUPEDS. 183 



The Peccary is extremely numerous in all parts of 

 Southern America.' They go in herds of two or three hundred 

 together; and unite, like the hogs, in each other's defence. They 

 are particularly fiei je when their young are attempted to he taken 

 from them. They surround the plunderer, attack him without 

 fear, and frequently make his life pay the forfeit of his rashness 

 When any of the natives are pursued by a herd in this manner, 

 they frequently climb a tree to avoid them ; while the Peccaries 

 gather round the root, threaten with their tusks, and their rough 

 bristles standing erect, as in the hog kind, they assume a very ter- 

 rible appearance. In this manner they remain at the foot of the 

 tree for hours together ; while the hunter is obliged to wait patiently, 

 ind not without apprehensions, until they think fit to retire. 



The Peccary prefers the hilly and mountainous parts of 

 the country to the lowlands ; it seema to delight neither in the 

 marshes nor the mud, like our hogs ; it keeps among the woods, 

 where it subsists upon wild fruits, roots, and vegetables ; it is also 

 an unceasing enemy to the lizard, the toad, and all the serpent 

 kinds, with which these uncultiva(||d forests abound. As soon as 

 it peroeives a serpent, or a viper, it at once seizes it with its fore 

 hoofs and teeth, skins it in an instant, and devours the flesh. 



The Rhinoceros is an inhabitant of Bengal, Siam, parte 

 of China, the large East India islands, Ethiopia, and found* in the 

 low countries reaching near the Cape of Good Hope. It delights 

 in shady forests and the neighborhood of rivers and marshy places. 

 It resembles the swine in being fond of wallowing in the mire ; its 

 affection to its young is peculiarly strong, and it brings forth only 

 one at a time : it is quiet and inoffensive, bat if provoked, it is 

 furious and very dangerous. Its scent is most exquisite : it feeds 

 on vegetables, and grunts like a hog. The horn of the single- 

 horned animal is placed near the end of the nose, black, smooth, 

 and sometimes three feet and a half long. It serves a double 

 purpose, that of defence and that of grubbing up the ground tor 

 the purpose of obtaining substances on which it feeds. The uppei 

 lip is long, and hangs over the lower, ending in a point; the ears 

 are large, erect, and pointed ; the eyes small and dull ; the skin i 



