THE HOG. 
9 
WILD HOG. 
serving his manoeuvres, he will be prepared for the charge. If the country is open and clear, I think it is more prudent to draw 
in the horse, slackening his pace agreeably to the Hog’s, keeping nearly at the same distance from him as before he showed signs 
of hostility. When he finds the horse does not come on as he expected, he will be induced to increase his speed again, and will 
soon he out of wind, and allow the hunter to ride up near him without preparing to charge. Now, however, the hunter should 
dash on at full speed, and as soon as he arrives within a proper distance he should deliver his spear, and having done so turn his 
horse instantly off to the left. If other gentlemen are following, the nearest to the first should keep immediately behind him, to 
take his place when he has delivered his spear.” 
The same writer describes another scene eminently characteristic of the desperate fierceness and strength of the animal. He 
was one, he informs us, of a party of eight gentlemen on a sporting excursion, near the city of Patna, on the hanks of the Soane 
river. Returning one morning from shooting, they met with a very large Boar, in a rhur, which they did not fire at or molest, 
as several of the party were fond of hunting, and they had no spears with them. The next morning they all sallied forth in 
search of him, and just as they arrived at the spot where they saw him the day before, they discovered him at some distance trotting 
off towards a grass jungle on the banks of the river : they pressed their horses as fast as possible, and were nearly up with him, when 
he disappeared all at once: the horses were then nearly at their full speed, and four of them could not be pulled up in time to 
prevent their going into a deep branch of the river, the banks of which were at least fourteen or fifteen feet high: happily for 
them there was no water in it, or any thing but fine sand, and no person was hurt. One of the horses which was very vicious got 
loose, attacked the others, and obliged all the gentlemen to quit them and walk to their tents. A few days afterwards they went 
again early in the morning in pursuit of the same Hog, and found him farther off from the grass jungle in a rhur field, from 
which with much difficulty they drove him into a plain, where he stood at bay challenging the whole party, boldly charging every 
horse that came within fifty yards of him, grunting loudly as he advanced. “ The horse I rode,” says Mr Johnston, “ would 
not go near him, and when I was at a considerable distance off, he charged another horse with such ferocity, that mine reared 
and plunged in such a violent manner as to throw me off: two or three others were dismounted nearly at the same time; and al¬ 
though there were many horses present that had been long accustomed to the sport, not one of them would stand his charges; 
he fairly drove the whole party off the field, and gently trotted on to the grass jungle (foaming and grinding his tusks), through 
which it was impossible to follow or drive him.” * 
These anecdotes of the habits, the courage, and strength of this wild and solitary creature, are interesting as facts of natural 
history, and likewise physiologically, as showing the vast change which domestication produces on his character : and not more 
remarkable is the difference in the conditions of liberty and subjection in the case of this animal, than the readiness with which he 
yields up his natural instincts, and resigns himself to bondage. If the wild pigs be taken young from their mothers in the woods, 
they become nearly as docile as the domesticated races, and in a single generation all the fierceness which distinguished the parents 
is lost. Their very form becomes changed, and those characters which fit them for a state of liberty disappear, as if in obedience 
to some natural law. 
When the Wild Hog is subjected to domestication, these changes, amongst others, take place: The ears, not being required 
to collect distant sounds, become less moveable. The formidable tusks of the male, no longer needed for self-defence, dimi¬ 
nish : the muscles of the neck, not being exercised in the same degree as in the natural state, become less developed, and the 
head becomes more prone : the back and loins become more long, the body more capacious, and the limbs shorter and less 
muscular : and anatomy shows that the stomach and intestinal canal have become extended. With the enlargement of the trunk, the 
animals become less suited for active motion, and along with the form of their bodies their habits and instincts change. They become 
more insatiate of food, and the tendency to obesity increases. They become diurnal in their habits, and so do not choose the night 
for their search of food. The male no longer seeks to dwell secluded from his fellows, and the female brings forth her young 
more frequently, and in greater numbers. With the diminished strength and power of active motion, the desire of liberty leaves 
them : they become content to grovel in the sty, and to return to it after a few hours of freedom. The creature that would have 
rushed on the armed horseman, and laid prostrate the fiercest dogs, now flees from the swineherd’s cur, and yields obedience to the 
voice of a child. Nay more, they communicate their change of form, appetites, and habits, to their progeny : a new race of crear- 
tures, in truth, is formed, suited to a new condition ; nor is it certain that it ever reverts to its former state. At least, when the 
domestication has continued for a long time, as in the case of the common Swine of Europe, the tendency to revert to the ancient 
type proceeds with a degree of slowness which is imperceptible. Many of the Swine of South America carried thither by the 
Spaniards have escaped into the woods, but they have not become Wild Boars, but remain in herds. In the woods of Sweden and 
* Johnston’s Indian Field-Sports. 
Q ### 
