204 On the Mammalia of the 



rapid for short distances. When they have taken to the 

 dense bush the hunter waits, listening from some overlook- 

 ing spot to the bark of the dogs, and hearing how matters 

 are going on, till he becomes aware by the sound that 

 the pig is brought at length to bay, when he then endea- 

 vours to get as best he can through the bush, to the as- 

 sistance of his dogs, who would in a long contest most 

 probably lose some of their numbers. The best of the 

 dogs, when the pig is brought to bay, run up at once, and 

 fasten upon him by the ears, snout, lip, &c, the others 

 assisting, and thus hold him fast, and prevent him doing 

 much mischief, till the boer's knife between his ribs or a 

 bullet puts a termination to a struggle, which, ifjiot thus in- 

 terfered with, most likely would end in the defeat of the pack, 

 and death of some of the dogs. In every seizure generally 

 one or more dogs get wounded by the formidable tusks, and 

 some are killed altogether, either by the belly being ripped 

 up, or the vessels of the neck in front of the chest lacerated 

 and pierced. Hesitating dogs are liable to suffer most, as 

 may be inferred. By moonlight the wild pigs come out of 

 their retreats, especially during and after rainy weather, when 

 the ground is soft, to feed on the roots, bulbs, &c, which they 

 fancy, and large pieces of ground may sometimes be seen 

 ploughed up by them, after a single night's ranging. They 

 may then be hunted very successfully, and sometimes shot 

 when discovered out alone feeding. The flesh of the young 

 is fair pork, but not very fat, and the skins of the older seem 

 the only valuable part, of which the boer makes his veld- 

 schoons, or covers his saddle with. The flesh of these pigs 

 is most frequently allotted by the boer to feed his dogs, and is 

 cut off the carcase on the spot, and devoured by them raw. 



Of the common Bush Tiger or Leopard (F. Leopardus), 

 there are generally two kinds seen, a smaller and larger, in- 

 habiting the densest bush of the koppies, kloofs, and krantzes. 

 They are a great nuisance to the sheep-farmer of the Bush 

 country, preying on his flocks, and are said to be very partial 

 to baboons' flesh ; some skins of the larger kind with the long 

 tail reach eight or ten feet long, while the smaller average 

 about five or four. The spoor of some attain the size of that 



