r, I77s- ins;, however, of a fine ivory-like .December. o ' 7 / fubftance. In a heart o f this animal falted and dried, which I gave to the Royal Academy of Sciences in Sweden, the tniks or horns ftand mine inches out of the jaws, and meafure full five inches in circumference at the bafe. The two other tufks, which come from the lower jaw, project but three inches from 'the mouth, being flat on the infide, and correfponding with another plain furface fimilar to it in the upper tufks. Thefe the beafts make ufe of. not fo much for biting, St for goring and butting with. A little pig of this fpecies, which I afterwards caught at Vifch^riviery and had it tied up, thinking to bring it alive along with me, had already got this trick, fo that I was foon obliged to let it be killed. It was terribly vicious, and quick in all its motions ; and though at that time' not abfolutely dangerous, yet my Boihies-men were very ¿much afraid o f it. “ We had rather, faid they, attack a lion on the plain, than an African wild boar; for this, though muth fmaller, comes ruihing on a man as fwift as an arrow, and throwing him -down fnaps his legs in two, and rips up his belly before he can get to ftrike it, and kill it with his javelin.” The dwelling-place of this fame fpecies o f wild boar, to which -the avenues, feemed to be very narrow, is under-ground. I have been told indeed, that the bofch-varkens go down into them backwards, and place themfelves there in a row ^one behind the other; but this is not very likely, for probably thefe paflag.es are widened lower down. Thus much, however, is certain, that people do not dare to attack them in their-holes, for fear of their coming out on them on a iiidden.. The The body of this animal is fmall in comparifon with its Dc,c7c” 1;,.r_ head, a conformation which facilitates its burrowing and living under-ground. Neither would it be advifeable for a man on horfeback to approach too near or to hunt this animal, as it will often turn round on a hidden, and ftriking with its horns at the horfe’s legs, afterwards kill both him-and his rider. This day I purfued feveral pigs with the old fows, with a view to fhoot one of them, but in vain ; neverthelefs, the chafe o f them afforded me peculiar pleafure. On a fudden the heads of the old ones, which were before of a tolerable fize,feemed to have grown hill larger and more ihapelefs than they were before; which momentary and wonderful change aftonifhed me fo much the more, as my hard riding over a country full of bullies and pits, had hitherto prevented me from giving fuificient attention to the manner in which it was brought about. The fe- cret, however, confifted in this ; each of the old ones, while they were making off, took a pig in its mouth; a circumitance that alfo explained, to me another fubjedt of my furprize, which was, that all the pigs which I was juil before chafing along with the old ones, vaniihed all on a fudden. But in this adlion we find a kind o f unanimity among the wood-fwine, in which they refemble the tame fpecies, and which they have in a greater degree than many, other animals. It is likewife very aftonifhing, that the pigs fhould be carried about in this manner between fuch large tulks as thofe o f their mothers, without being hurt, or crying out in the leaft. I faw the fame done, however, on two other occafions, as I was chafing them. ; The cry of thefe V o l . II. E young
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