AT CLOSE QUARTERS. 



HERE is no inhabitant of the forest which, when aroused, exhibits a more 

 surly and vindictive temper than an old Wild Boar. In common with 

 the rest of his tribe, he shows but little sagacity, and rushes upon any ob- 

 ject that has excited his ire. In most instances, when his antagonists are other 

 wild creatures, his thick hide and great strength enable him to pass through a con- 

 flict in safety. The long white tusks which arm his under-jaws are kept sharp as 

 razors by constant friction against the upper ones, and deadly are the blows he is 

 able to deliver with them, striking with a sure aim and with great rapidity. 



This savage animal has many representatives throughout the world, some 

 of which are possessed of the most hideous physiognomies it is possible to con- 

 ceive, their faces being covered with warts and excrescences, and having great teeth 

 springing outwards and upwards, which fearfully distort mouths that never at any time 

 could lay the slightest claim to a particle of beauty. Such is the so-called Wart 

 Hog of Africa, which among this class of animals must ever bear away the palm 

 for his repulsive appearance. In some of the islands of the Indian Archipelago, 

 is found a pig called by the natives the Babi-rusa, or pig-deer, on account of the 

 singular and eccentric form of the tusks that spring from the upper jaw. These 

 are exceedingly long and very sharp, and instead of growing outwards, as is usual 

 with these appendages in this class of creatures, they shoot right upwards out of 

 separate bony sockets, piercing through the skin on either side of the nose, and then 



