Part 11

The Wild Boar, supposed to be the stock from which all our domesticated Pigs take their origin, is very different in its habits from the swinish multitudes with which it is looked upon as nearly related; his long prismatic tusks, curving outwards and slightly upwards on each side of his mouth, are weapons which he knows full well how to wield; and from the strength of his neck and the activity of his movements, by their assistance he is enabled to repel the attacks of all ordinary foes.

The chase of the wild Boar has been from remote antiquity one of the most dangerous of field-sports, for when once at bay, the furious creature attacks indiscriminately Men, Dogs and Horses, ripping them with his tusks, and often inflicting frightful wounds upon his assailants.

In India, Boar-hunting is a favorite amusement. The hunters are always armed with javelins, which they throw at the animal as he runs away or rushes to the charge. His assaults are frequently so furious that the Horses will not stand the shock, or if they do are often thrown down and severely injured.

THE WART HOGS.

The Wart Hogs, which resemble the true Hogs, are distinguished from them by the structure of their molar teeth. A fleshy excrescence hangs down on each side of their cheeks, which gives them a repulsive appearance. There are several species to be found in Africa, of which country they are natives. They are very courageous, and possessed of immense strength. Their habits are similar to those of the Wild Boar. The Cape Wart Hog, found at the Cape of Good Hope, is probably the best known.

THE PECCARIES.

The Peccaries are animals which are peculiar to America. They resemble the common Pig in their general shape and in their teeth, but their canine tusks do not project from the mouth, and they have no tail.

The Collared Peccary is eaten in South America, and is considered a wholesome article of food. The White-lipped Peccary, which is found in Guiana, is larger and more strongly built than the others.

THE HORSE FAMILY.

This includes all quadrupeds that have but a single toe or hoof on each foot—the Horse, the Domestic Ass (or Donkey), the Hemionus (or Dshikketee), the Dauw (or Peechi), the Zebra and the Quagga.

The subjection of the Horse to Man may be traced back to the most primitive date. Moses recommends the Hebrews to have no dread in war of the Horses of their enemies. We read in the Book of Kings (I Kings iv, 26) that “Solomon had 40,000 stalls for his Horses, and 12,000 horsemen.” According to the same book, these Horses were bought in Egypt and brought into the country of the Hebrews.

The remote period to which we can trace back the Horse being employed as a domestic animal, renders it very difficult to determine its original country. Nor is it possible to state where the finest species may be found. The Arabian Horses have long been famous for their beauty and intelligence, the English for their racing qualities, the Norman Horses for their great strength, and the Breton Horses for their hardiness and good temper. And so on through all the different species of past ages, we might mention special characteristics for which they were famous; and in the mixed species which have been brought to this country from time to time, we find traces of these many good qualities.

It is the same with the smaller races of the Horse family, known as the Ponies. The various breeds have different characteristics for which they are noted. But the ones deserving of special mention belong to the race which are natives of a group of islands situated to the north of Scotland. These are called Shetland Ponies and are perfect Horses in miniature. Some of them are scarcely as high as a Newfoundland Dog, yet they are very strong, and will endure any amount of fatigue and privation.

THE WILD AND DOMESTIC DONKEY.

The Ass, or Donkey, like the Horse, is the servant and helper of Man, but its domestication is of much less ancient date. The wild type of this animal (known under the names of Kiang, Koulan, Onager, or Dziggetai) is still a native of many of the Asiatic deserts.

They live together in innumerable droves and travel under the guidance of a leader, whom they obey with intelligent submission. If they chance to be attacked by Wolves, they range themselves in a circle, placing the weaker and younger members in the centre, when they defend themselves so courageously with their fore-feet and teeth that they almost invariably come off victorious.

The domestic Donkey carries the heaviest burden in proportion to its size of all beasts of burden. It costs little or nothing to keep, and requires very little care. It is especially valuable in rugged mountainous countries, where its sureness of foot enables it to go where Horses could not fail to meet with accidents.

In energy, nervous power, and in temperament, the Donkey even surpasses the Horse; and it has a greater capacity to endure fatigue.

THE ZEBRA.

The Zebra is larger than the Wild Ass, sometimes attaining the size of a mature Arab Horse. The richness of its coat would suffice to distinguish this creature from every other species of the same genus. The ground color is white tinged with yellow, marked with stripes of black and brown.

This elegant animal is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and probably the whole of southern, and a part of eastern, Africa. Travelers state that they have met with it in Congo, Guinea, and Abyssinia. It delights in mountainous countries, and, although it is less rapid than the Wild Ass, its paces are so good that the best Horses are alone able to overtake it.

The Zebra lives in droves, but is very shy in its nature; it is endowed with powers of sight that enable it to perceive from great distances the approach of hunters.

THE HEMIONUS OR DSHIKKETEE.

The Dshikketee in its shape and proportions seems to occupy a position intermediate between the Horse and the wild Ass. This indeed is implied by its name, derived from the Greek word hemionos, meaning half-ass. It somewhat resembles a Mule, but its legs are more slender and it is more attractive. Its general color is brown, with black mane and a black stripe across the shoulders; the tail likewise is terminated by a black tuft.

These quadrupeds inhabit the sandy deserts of Asia, especially those of Mongolia or the plains north of the Himalaya, and live in droves often consisting of more than a hundred individuals. Enduring and swift, they are not easily approached, but as both their hides and flesh are much sought after, they are often caught in traps arranged for the purpose, or are shot by hundreds lying in ambush near the salt meadows which they love to frequent. They were said to be as easily broken in as the Horses reared in our meadows and permitted to run at large till they are four or five years old.

THE QUAGGA.

The Quagga is smaller than the Zebra, and resembles the Horse in general shape. His head is small, and his ears are short. The color of head, neck and shoulders is a dark brown, verging on black. The tail is terminated by a tuft of long hair. It is a native of the plateaux of Caffraria, and feeds on grasses and shrubs, and lives in droves with the Zebra.

It is tamed without difficulty. The Dutch colonists were in the habit of keeping them with their herds, which they defended against the Hyenas. If one of these formidable carnivora threatened to attack the Cattle, the domesticated Quagga would attack and beat down the enemy with its fore-hoofs, trampling it to death.

The geographical range of the Quagga does not appear to extend to the northward of the river Vaal. The animal was formerly extremely common within the colony, but vanishing before the strides of civilization, is now to be found there in very limited numbers, and on the borders only. Beyond, on those sultry plains which are completely taken possession of by wild beasts, and may with strict propriety be termed the domains of savage nature, it occurs in interminable herds. Moving slowly across the profile of the ocean-like horizon, uttering a shrill barking neigh, of which its name forms a correct limitation, long files of Quaggas continually remind the early traveler of a rival caravan on its march. Bands of many hundreds are thus frequently seen during their migration from the dreary and desolate plains of some portion of the interior which has formed their secluded abode, seeking for more luxuriant pastures where, during the summer months, various herbs and grasses thrive.

THE DAUW.

The Dauw seems to take a middle place between the Zebra and the Quagga. It resembles the former in its shape and proportions, and the latter in the color of its coat.

This quadruped is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and doubtless of many of the mountainous districts of Southern Africa. It lives in arid and desert localities, in droves, and is shy, and difficult to tame.

QUADRUPEDS THAT CHEW THE CUD.

THIS order of animals is known as the Ruminantia, or the Ruminant Order, because all these animals possess the strange power of ruminating, or of bringing back into their mouth (in order to re-chew it), the food that they have once swallowed.

This power is owing to a complicated structure of their stomach, which is divided into several compartments, and which have been considered, though with some exaggeration, as so many distinct stomachs. The first and largest of these divisions is the paunch, which occupies a large portion of the abdomen. The food is here accumulated after being roughly crushed by the first chewing. After the paunch comes the bonnet or cap stomach. In this cap the food is gradually moulded into small pellets, which ascend again into the mouth, by means of a natural movement, and not a convulsive or irregular one as in other animals; these pellets then undergo a thorough chewing and mixing with the saliva. Such is “chewing the cud.”

When the food, thus transformed into a soft and nearly fluid paste descends again into the stomach, it goes straight into a third intestine and from this it at length passes into the digesting stomach or rennet-bag.

The feet of all these animals terminate in two toes which are joined together in a bone called the shank. Sometimes also there exists at the back of the foot two small spurs or toes. In all these animals except the Camels and Llamas—the hoofs, which entirely cover the last joint of the two toes on each foot, act side by side on a smooth surface, and resemble one single but cloven hoof. Thus the origin of the word cloven-hoofed.

The Ruminants are divided in various ways by different Naturalists. Some are satisfied with the division simply into Horned and Hornless Ruminants. But the best classification is into the two large families of the Camels and Common Ruminants. The Camel family includes the Camels and Dromedaries—the beasts of burden in dessert lands, and the Llama, etc., the beast of burden among the mountains.

The Common Ruminants are divided into three tribes—those with hairy and permanent horns, those with hollow-horns, and those that shed their horns.

THE CAMEL FAMILY.

Most of the modern Naturalists admit two distinct species of the Camel genus; the Camel proper, which has two humps on its back, and the Dromedary, which has only one.

The individuals of the Camel genus have a small and strongly-arched head. Their ears are slightly developed, still their sense of hearing is excellent. Their eyes, which have oblong and horizontal pupils, are projecting and gentle in expression, and are protected by a double eyelid. Their power of sight is very great. Their nostrils are situated at some distance from the extremity of the upper lip, and, externally, appear only two simple slits in the skin, which the animal can open or shut at will. Their upper lip is split down the centre, and the two halves are susceptible of various and separate movements. These constitute a very delicate organ of feeling. They are also possessed of an extremely acute sense of smell.

This remarkable head is carried with a certain degree of nobility and dignity on a somewhat long neck, which, when the animal moves slowly, describes a graceful arched curve.

Their peculiar body, made more remarkable by the one or two humps on its back, is supported on four long legs, which appear slender in comparison with the mass they bear.

In the Camel proper the color of the coat is chestnut-brown. The hair grows to a considerable length, and becomes rather curly on the humps and about the neck. Below the neck it forms a fringe, which descends over the fore-legs.

THE DROMEDARY.

The Dromedary, which is less massive in form and smaller in size than the Camel, has a coat of brownish-grey. Its hair is soft, woolly, and moderately long, more especially about its hump and neck.

The Camel is a native of ancient Bactria. It principally lives in Asia, where it has been used, from antiquity, for domestic and military service. In Africa, where it is acclimatised, it has doubtless existed since the time of the conquest of that country by the Arabs.

The Dromedary is distributed all over a great part of Northern Africa, and a portion of Asia. It seems originally to have been a native of Arabia.

The faculty which the Camel possesses of being able to dispense with drinking for a considerable time, has generally been attributed to the fact that it carries internally a reservoir of water, which it uses in case of necessity. Its digestive organs, like those of other Ruminants, are composed of four different stomachs.

THE LLAMAS.

The Llamas are to the New World what Camels are to the Old Continent. They are distinguished from the latter animal by the absence of humps on their backs; by their two-toed feet only touching the ground at their extremities; by their soles, which are less flattened; and their shape, which is more slender and graceful.

There are three species of Llama—the Llama proper, the Paca, and the Vicuna.

The Llama was the only beast of burden made use of by the Peruvians at the time America was discovered by Europeans, and it exists nowhere else in a wild state. It is about the height of an under-sized Horse; its head is small and well set; its coat is coarse, and varies in color from brown to black; occasionally it is grey, and even white. The hair on its body is always longer and more shaggy than on its head, neck and legs.

The ancient inhabitants of Peru made use of this species entirely as beasts of burden and labor; but since the introduction of Horses into South America their employment has much diminished.

These animals are, however, very useful for the transportation of heavy weights across the mountains, on account of the wonderful sureness of their footing. They walk very slowly, and can carry upwards of a hundred and sixty pounds weight; but they must not be hurried, for if violence is used to quicken their pace they are certain to fall down, and refusing to get up, would allow themselves to be beaten to death on the spot rather than resume their course.

The climate which this animal prefers is that of plateaux, from 10,000 to 11,000 feet above the sea, and in these localities the most numerous herds of Llamas are to be found. The natives fold the domesticated ones, like Sheep, in special enclosures near their cabins. At sunrise they are set at liberty to seek their food. In the evening they return, frequently escorted by wild Llamas; but these take every precaution to avoid being captured.

In more ways than one the Llama is most valuable to the inhabitants of the mountains; for the flesh of the young is good and wholesome food, their skin produces a leather of value, and their hair is used for various manufactures.

THE PACA.

The Paca inhabits similar localities to the former. It may be recognized by the development of its hair, which is of a tawny-brown color, very long, and falling on each side of the body in long locks.

The Paca is gentle and timid, and allows itself to be led about by those who feed and tend it; but if a stranger attempts to take liberties with it, it kicks viciously, or ejects its saliva over him. Its food is similar to that of Sheep; and its wool is very fine, elastic and long.

THE VICUNA.

The Vicuna is the smallest species of the Llama genus. It is the same size as a Sheep, and strongly resembles the Llama, only that its shape is more elegant. Its legs, which are longer in proportion to the body, are more slender and better formed; its head is shorter and its forehead wider. Its eyes are large, intelligent and mild; its throat is of a yellowish color, while the remainder of its body is brown and white.

The rich fleece of this animal surpasses in fineness and softness any other wool with which we are acquainted. In order to obtain possession of the skin the American hunters pursue them even over the steepest summits of the Andes, when, by driving, they force them into pens, composed of tightly stretched cords, covered with rags of various colors, which frighten and prevent the prey attempting to escape. One of these battues sometimes produces from five hundred to a thousand skins.

THE MUSK DEER.

Although it belongs to the Deer family, the little Musk Deer is often classified with this group because it is without horns, and resembles the Camel family in its teeth and other characteristics. This is a graceful little animal, about the size of a half-grown Fawn of our common Deer. Its tail is very short, and it is covered with hair so coarse and so brittle that it is almost like bristles, but what especially distinguishes it, is its pouch filled with the substance so well known in medicine and perfumery under the name of musk.

The Musk Deer is a native of the mountainous region between Siberia, China and Thibet.

THE HORNED RUMINANTS.

The family of Common Ruminants form a natural group comprehending the greatest number of Ruminants. The feature which distinguishes the animals composing it, not only from the Camel family, but also from all the other Ruminants, is the existence of two horns on the forehead of the male, and sometimes on the female.

The structure of these horns presents various differences, and has caused the division of this large and important family into three tribes, namely, Ruminants with hairy and permanent horns, hollow-horned Ruminants and Ruminants which shed their horns.

RUMINANTS WITH HAIRY AND PERMANENT HORNS.

This tribe consists of a single genus, that of the Giraffe, which has also but one species.

The height of the Giraffe, the singular proportions of its body, the beauty of its coat and the peculiarity of its gait, are sufficient to explain the curiosity which these animals have always excited.

Its long and tapering head is lighted up by two large, animated and gentle eyes; its forehead is adorned with two horns, which consist of a porous, bony substance, covered externally with a thick skin and bristly hair. In the middle of the forehead there is a protuberance of the same nature as the horns, but wider and shorter. The head of the Giraffe is supported by a very long neck. Along the neck is a short, thin mane. The body is short, and the line of the backbone is very sloping. Its fore-quarters are higher than the hinder—a feature which is observed in the Hyena. Its legs are most extensively developed, and are terminated by cloven hoofs. The skin, which is of a very light fawn-color, is covered with short hair, marked with large triangular or oblong spots of a darker shade.

Giraffes are only found in Africa, and even there they are not numerous. They live in families of from twelve to sixteen members. They frequent the verge of the deserts, and are met with from the northern limits of Cape Colony to Nubia.

The usual pace of the Giraffe is an amble, that is to say, they move both their legs on one side at the same time. Their mode of progression is singular and very ungainly. At the same time as they move their body, their long neck is stretched forward, giving them a very awkward appearance. Their long neck enables them to reach with their tongue the leaves on the tops of high shrubs, which constitute a large part of their food.

RUMINANTS WITH HOLLOW HORNS.

These Ruminants have horns which are covered with an elastic sheath, something like agglutinated hair; they may be divided into two groups.

To the first group belong the Chamois, Gazelle, Saiga, Nyl-ghau, Gnu and Bubale. To the second group belong the Common Goat, the Mouflon or Wild Sheep, the Domestic Sheep and the Ox.

The most remarkable species belonging to the first division all come under the natural group formerly known by the name of Antelopes. It comprehends about a hundred species, which live, for the most part, in Africa. They are generally slender and lightly-made, fleet in running, of a gentle and timid disposition; they are gregarious, and are particularly distinguishable by the different shapes of their horns.

We shall glance at the most remarkable genera resulting from the division of the old general group of Antelopes.

THE CHAMOIS.

The chief characteristic of the Chamois is constituted by the smooth horns which are placed immediately above the orbits. These horns are almost upright, with a backward tendency, and curved like a hook at the end. The horns exist in both sexes, and are nearly the same size in each. The Chamois has a short tail, and no beard.

The European Chamois is about the size of a small Goat. It is covered with two sorts of hair—one woolly, very abundant, and of a brownish color; the other, silky, spare and brittle. Its coat is dark brown in winter and fawn-color in summer; its fine and intelligent head is of a pale yellow, with a brown stripe down the muzzle and round the eyes. Its horns are black, short, smooth, and not quite rounded.

This graceful Ruminant inhabits the Pyrenees and Alps, and also some of the highest points in Greece. But from constant persecution it has lately become so rare that few people can boast of having been successful in its pursuit.

The Chamois lives in small herds, in the midst of steep rocks on the highest mountain summits. With marvelous agility it leaps over ravines, scales with nimble and sure feet the steepest acclivities, bounds along the narrowest paths on the edge of the most perilous abysses, and jumping from rock to rock, will take its stand on the sharpest point, where there appears hardly room for its feet to rest; and all this is accomplished with an accuracy of sight, a muscular energy, an elegance and precision of movement, and a self-possession which are without equal. From these facts, it can easily be understood that hunting this nimble and daring animal is an amusement full of danger.

On the approach of winter the Chamois goes from the northern side of the mountains, to the southern, but it never descends into the plain.

THE GAZELLES.

The Gazelles are animals of graceful shape, rather smaller in size than the Chamois. The horns are twice bent, in the shape of a lyre, and without sharp edges; the nostrils are generally surrounded by hair.

The eyes of this animal are so beautiful and so soft in expression, its movements are so elegant and so light, that the Gazelle is used by the Arab poets as the type of all that is lovely and graceful.

Gazelles proper are the species of this genus which are generally to be seen in our parks and menageries. Such, for instance, as the Dorcas Gazelle, which inhabits the large plains and Saharian region of Northern Africa. It is the same size as a Roe, but its shape is lighter and more graceful.

THE GNU.