244 
PASSIONAL ZOOLOGY. 
the wild boar and the partridge, only the names and memories 
remain from the banks of the Massafran to those of the Arratch, 
the pestilential limits of my marshy ex-government. 
There is still in Algiers a charming wild boar hunt, which some- 
times recalls to us the bull fights of Seville. 
The hunter amuses himself, like the picador, by planting in the 
neck of the animal a number of small lances, adorned with rib- 
bons. The Arab cavalier, who is the first horseman in the world, 
displays an admirable skill in this sort of fantasia. The Arab 
hunts and captures every thing on horseback, the gazelle ex- 
cepted. The Scheiks and noble families had formerly alone the 
privilege of hunting the wild boar with large yellow greyhounds, 
which soon ran it down and used it up. 
This species of dog is now very rare, and very highly prized in 
Africa. 
Religious prejudice long protected the wild boar of Algiers. 
Before 1830 the native never hunted it but to provide meat for 
his dogs. But since the advent of the French kitchen into Africa, 
and since the wild boar is saleable, things have changed. The 
Arab has declared a war of extermination on the wild boar. I 
proclaim before and against all, the wild boar and the porcupine 
of Algiers to be excellent game. The lion, who should be a con- 
noisseur in such matters, having often enough occasion to choose, 
seems to share my opinion. 
I was once shown the counterscarp of a fort of cactus, solidly 
bastioned, in which resided, as I was told, one of these hairy kings 
of the desert. 
For motives of discretion which it is useless to confide to the 
reader, I did not think proper to push my reconnaissance farther, 
but I saw enough to convince me that the master of the place 
must entertain a profound affection for wild hog. The precincts 
were completely strewn with bones belonging to individuals of this 
species. 
In one of our first expeditions in the province of Constantine, a 
very distinguished officer of the army of Africa had been posted 
in ambuscade with his company beside a little river adjacent to 
the camp of Breaux. It was one of those nights so calm and so 
