566 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
hunter to wish that, for the time being at least, he was frugivorous, and that 
he might find protection against the irritation of unslaked thirst. 
The Peccary, or Tajacu, is quite as terrible as the wild boar, and being 
alike irritable and fierce, it does not await attack, but acts on the offensive. 
One spoken off by Webber, in his “ Romance of Natural History,” was three 
feet long and weighed between fifty and sixty pounds. The tusks of the peccary , 
although not protruding, are lancet-like in their keenness. The animal is victor 
in contests with all the animal kingdom. It takes its rest in deserted burrows 
or in the hollows of trees, and the whole herd backs in one at a time, the last 
one in standing guard, like the former species. 
The Taynicate Peccary is better known, and is larger, fiercer and more 
troublesome than the former species. It is gregarious, and the herds are of very 
HUNTER ATTACKED BY PECCARIES. 
great size. It is a good swimmer, and in coloring is a black-brown; the upper 
jaw is crossed by a white band, which expands so as to cover the lower jaw ; its 
provision in the matter of mane is but slender. The color of the adult animal 
is a very dark-brown flecked with gray, but the young are handsomely striped 
with white. It is among the most mischievous of animals, makes long marches 
in quest of food and so ravages the fields through which it passes as to com¬ 
pletely annihilate the growing crops of maize. When even the least alarmed, 
the peccary stops short and gnashes its teeth, somewhat after the manner of an 
infuriated boar; nor can it be easily put to flight, especially if its numbers be 
strong. During its marches it swims the broadest streams, unless beset by the 
Indians, who seize such opportunities to kill large numbers. 
