HUNTING PECCARIES IN TEXAS. 883 
our wild animals, even at this late day, venture into the 
fastnesses of the Dismal Swamp, or any of those enormous 
cane-brakes locked up within the sluggish embrace of the 
bayous of the Mississippi, and propose to shake hands with 
the first Panther he meets, or offer the fraternal hug to Bruin, 
and he will see what a reception he will find ?—let him be 
armed with as many guns and pistols as he can carry, I’ll 
engage he will need to make the most of them, the first tima 
he comes within spring of a panther, or treads on the tail (?) 
of a bear. 
The fact is, the introduction of fire-arms, in modifying the 
face of the whole globe, physically as well as morally and 
mentally, bas not failed, of course, in its effects upon savage 
animals as well as savage men. If it has thundered civiliza- 
tion or extermination into the ears of one, it has as well 
detonated circumspection into the ears of the other. 
Before the Hast India conquests of the British introduced 
fire-arms, the bold and open ravages of lions, tigers, and other 
wild beasts, were frequently carried to such a formidable 
extent, that whole villages of the imbecile natives were 
depopulated by a single animal, to destroy which armies 
had to be assembled; and even they have been beaten back 
from the jungles, without effecting their object more than 
partially. When British officers first commenced lion and 
tiger hunting, it was considered the most dangerous sport 
in the world; and the records and correspondence of that 
period teem with fearful tales of bloody deaths at the horrid 
jaws of those animals. At that time, the tiger, without 
hesitation, attacked large parties of men, leaping into their 
midst from the jungle, and carrying off a victim without 
regard to epaulettes ur color: while the lion charged boldly 
into camps, carrying off men, oxen, or any other dainties 
that happened to suit his taste. 
In hunting on elephants, it was so exceedingly rare to find 
one who would charge a jungle after the scent of the tiger 
