Page:Charles Catton, Animals (1788).pdf/69



firt view, bears a general reemblance to our common hog, but on examination is evidently of a ditinct pecies; neither will they breed together. The head of the Peccary is large; the nout long, and terminates like the hog’s; the neck is thick and hort; the body bulky, and marked down the neck with a belt of a whitih colour; the legs are hort; the general colour is black; each hair or britle is marked with alternate bands of black and white, like the porcupine’s quills; the coating is a coare kind of britles, which are long over the whole body, and the length of four or five inches along the back; has no tail; the ize is rather maller than the common hog; the appearance equally clumy with all of this tribe.

The Peccary is further ditinguihable from every other quadruped, by an orifice in the back, near the rump, which by ome has been mitaken for the navel; from this opening dicharges an ichorous liquor of a diagreeable mell. It is neceary, immediately on killing the animal, to extract this orifice or gut, ele, in the coure of a quarter of an hour, it will taint the whole carcae.

The Peccary is a native of the hottet parts of South America, where they are very numerous, and go in herds of two or three hundred; prefer the mountains to the plains, and the woods to the open parts, as the food they mot delight in abounds there in the greatet plenty; they eat alo toads, lizards and erpents; the latter they kin with great adroitnes, holding them with the fore feet.

The Peccary, though not armed with uch offenive weapons as the wild boar or hog, will fight toutly with the beats of prey. The Jaguar, or American Leopard, is its mortal enemy; often the body of that animal is found with everal of thee hogs, lain in combat. They render mutual aitance when attacked, and endeavour to urround the enemy. The Peccary may be rendered tame and dometic; is atisfied with the ame food as the hog, but is not o much inclined to be fat; nor will it, like them, wallow in mire. The fleh is eteemed very good food.