by Mayne Reid
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
TREED BY PECCARIES.
Talking of these Spanish hogs naturally led us to the subject of thepeccary--for this creature is an inhabitant only of those parts of NorthAmerica which have been hitherto in possession of the Spanish race. Ofthe peccary (_dicotyles_), there are two distinct species known--the"collared," and the "white-lipped." In form and habits they are verysimilar to each other. In size and colour they differ. The"white-lipped" is the larger. Its colour is dark brown, nearly black,while that of the collared peccary is a uniform iron-grey, with theexception of the band or collar upon its shoulders.
The distinctive markings are, on the former species a greyish-whitepatch along the jaws, and on the other a yellowish-white belt, embracingthe neck and shoulders, as a collar does a horse. These markings havegiven to each its specific name. They are farther distinguished, by theforehead of the white-lipped peccary being more hollowed or concave thanthat of its congener.
In most other respects these creatures are alike. Both feed upon roots,fruits, frogs, toads, lizards, and snakes. Both make their lair inhollow logs, or in caves among the rocks, and both are gregarious intheir habits. In this last habit, however, they exhibit somedifference. The white-lipped species associate in troops to the numberof hundreds, and even as many as a thousand have been seen together;whereas the others do not live in such large droves, but are oftener metwith in pairs. Yet this difference of habit may arise from the factthat in the places where both have been observed, the latter have notbeen so plentiful as the white-lipped species. As many as a hundred ofthe collared peccary have been observed in one "gang," and no doubt hadthere been more of them in the neighbourhood, the flock would have beenstill larger.
The white-lipped species does not extend to the northern half of theAmerican Continent. Its _habitat_ is in the great tropical forests ofGuyana and Brazil, and it is found much farther south, being common inParaguay. It is there known as the "vaquira," whence our word"peccary." The other species is also found in South America, and isdistinguished as the "vaquira de collar" (collared peccary). Of course,they both have trivial Indian names, differing in different parts of thecountry. The former is called in Paraguay "Tagnicati," while the latteris the "Taytetou."
Neither species is so numerous as they were informer times. They havebeen thinned off by hunting--not for the value either of their flesh ortheir skins, not for the mere sport either, but on account of theirdestructive habits. In the neighbourhood of settlements they makefrequent forays into the maize and mandioc fields, and they will laywaste a plantation of sugar-cane in a single night. For this reason itis that a war of extermination has long been waged against them by theplanters and their dependents.
As already stated, it is believed that the white-lipped species is notfound in North America. Probably it does exist in the forests ofSouthern Mexico. The natural history of these countries is yet to bethoroughly investigated. The Mexicans have unfortunately employed alltheir time in making revolutions. But a new period has arrived. ThePanama railroad, the Nicaragua canal, and the route of Tehuantepec, willsoon be open, when among the foremost who traverse these hithertounfrequented regions, will be found troops of naturalists, of theAudubon school, who will explore every nook and corner of CentralAmerica. Indeed, already some progress has been made in this respect.The two species of peccaries, although so much alike never associatetogether, and do not seem to have any knowledge of a relationshipexisting between them. Indeed, what is very singular, they are neverfound in the same tract of woods. A district frequented by the one isalways without the other.
The Collared Peccary is the species found in North America; and of it wemore particularly speak. It is met with when you approach the moresouthern latitudes westward of the Mississippi River. In that greatwing of the continent, to the eastward of this river, and now occupiedby the United States, no such animal exists, nor is there any proof thatit was ever known to exist there in its wild state. In the territory ofTexas, it is a common animal, and its range extends westward to thePacific, and south throughout the remainder of the Continent.
As you proceed westwards, the line of its range rises considerably; andin New Mexico it is met with as high as the 38rd parallel. This is justfollowing the isothermal line, and proves that the peccary cannot endurethe rigours of a severe winter climate. It is a production of thetropics and the countries adjacent.
Some naturalists assert that it is a forest-dwelling animal, and isnever seen in open countries. Others, as Buffon, state that it makesits _habitat_ in the mountains, never the low countries and plains;while still others have declared that it is never found in themountains!
None of these "theories" appears to be the correct one. It iswell-known to frequent the forest-covered plains of Texas, and Emory(one of the most talented of modern observers) reports having met with alarge drove of peccaries in the almost treeless mountains of New Mexico.The fact is, the peccary is a wide "ranger," and frequents eitherplains or mountains wherever he can find the roots or fruits whichconstitute his natural food. The haunts he likes best appear to be thedry hilly woods, where he finds several species of nuts to his taste--such as the chinquapin (_Castanea pumila_), the pecan (_Juglansolivaformis_), and the acorns of several species of oak, with which thehalf-prairie country of western Texas abounds.
Farther than to eat their fruit, the forest trees are of no use to thepeccary. He is not a climber, as he is a hoofed animal. But in theabsence of rocks, or crevices in the cliffs, he makes his lair in thebottoms of hollow trees, or in the great cavities so common inhalf-decayed logs. He prefers, however, a habitation among rocks, asexperience has no doubt taught him that it is a safer retreat both fromhunters and fire.
The peccary is easily distinguished from the other forest animals by hisrounded, hog-like form, and long, sharp snout. Although pig-shaped, heis extremely active and light in his movements. The absence of a tail--for that member is represented only by a very small protuberance or"knob"--imparts a character of lightness to his body. His jaws arethose of the hog, and a single pair of tusks, protruding near the anglesof the mouth, gives him a fierce and dangerous aspect. These tusks areseen in the old males or "boars." The ears are short, and almost buriedin the long harsh hairs or bristles that cover the whole body, but whichare much longer on the back. These, when erected or thrown forward--asis the case when the peccary is incensed--have the appearance of a stiffmane rising all along the neck, shoulders, and spine. At such times,indeed, the rigid, bristling coat over the whole body gives somewhat ofa porcupine appearance to the animal.
The peccary, as already stated, is gregarious. They wander in droves oftwenty, or sometimes more. This, however, is only in the winter. Inthe season of love, and during the period of gestation, they are metwith only in pairs--a male and female. They are very true to eachother, and keep close together.
The female produces two young at a litter. These are of a reddish-browncolour, and at first not larger than young puppies; but they are soonable to follow the mother through the woods; and then the "family party"usually consists of four.
Later in the season, several of these families unite, and remaintogether, partly perhaps from having met by accident, and partly formutual protection; for whenever one of their number is attacked, all thedrove takes part against the assailant, whether he be hunter, cougar, orlynx. As they use both their teeth, tusks, and sharp fore-hoofs withrapidity and effect, they become a formidable and dangerous enemy.
The cougar is often killed and torn to pieces by a drove of peccaries,that he has been imprudent enough to attack. Indeed, this fiercecreature will not often meddle with the peccaries when he sees them inlarge numbers. He attacks only single ones; but their "grunting," whichcan be heard to the distance of nearly a mile, summons the rest, and heis surrounded before he is aware of it, and seized by as many as can getaround him.
The Texan hunter, if afoot, will not dare to disturb a drove ofpeccaries. Ev
en when mounted, unless the woods be open, he will passthem by without rousing their resentment. But, for all this, the animalis hunted by the settlers, and hundreds are killed annually. Theirravages committed upon the corn-fields make them many enemies, who goafter them with a desire for wholesale slaughter.
Hounds are employed to track the peccary and bring it to bay, when thehunters ride up and finish the chase by their unerring rifles.
A flock of peccaries, when pursued, will sometimes take shelter in acave or cleft of the rocks, one of their number standing ready at themouth. When this one is shot by the hunter, another will immediatelyrush out and take its place. This too being destroyed, will be replacedby a third, and so on until the whole drove has fallen.
Should the hounds attack the peccary while by themselves, and withoutthe aid and encouragement of the hunter, they are sure to be "routed,"and some of their number destroyed. Indeed, this little creature, ofnot more than two feet in length, is a match for the stoutest bull-dog!I have myself seen a peccary (a caged one, too)--that had killed no lessthan six dogs of bull and mastiff breed--all of them considered fightingdogs of first-rate reputation.
The Kentuckian had a peccary adventure which had occurred to him whileon an excursion to the new settlements of Texas. "It was my firstintroduction to these animals," began he, "and I am not likely soon toforget it. It gave me, among the frontier settlers of Texas, thereputation of a `mighty hunter,' though how far I deserved that name youmay judge for yourselves.
"I was for some weeks the guest of a farmer or `planter,' who lived uponthe Trinity Bottom. We had been out in the `timber' several times, andhad filled both bear, deer, and turkeys, but had not yet had the luck tofall in with the peccary, although we never went abroad without seeingtheir tracks, or some other indications of what my friend termed`peccary sign.' The truth is, that these animals possess the sense ofsmell in the keenest degree; and they are usually hidden long before thehunter can see them or come near them. As we had gone without dogs, ofcourse we were not likely to discover which of the nine hundred andninety-nine hollow logs passed in a day, was the precise one in whichthe peccaries had taken shelter.
"I had grown very curious about these creatures. Bear I had oftenhunted--deer I had driven; and turkeys I had both trapped and shot. ButI had never yet killed a peccary; in fact, had never seen one. I wastherefore very desirous of adding the tusk of one of these wild boars tomy trophies of the chase.
"My desire was gratified sooner than I expected, and to an extent I hadnever dreamt of; for in one morning--before tasting my breakfast--Icaused no less than nineteen of these animals to utter their lastsqueak! But I shall give the details of this `feat' as they happened.
"It was in the autumn season--the most beautiful season of the forest--when the frondage obtains its tints of gold, orange, and purple. I wasabed in the house of my friend, but was awakened out of my sleep by the`gobbling' of wild turkeys that sounded close to the place.
"Although there was not a window in my room, the yellow beams streamingin through the chinks of the log wall told me that it was after`sun-up.'
"I arose, drew on my garments and hunting-habiliments, took my rifle,and stole out. I said nothing to any one, as there was no one--neither`nigger' nor white man--to be seen stirring about the place. I wantedto steal a march upon my friend, and show him how smart I was by bagginga fat young `gobbler' for breakfast.
"As soon as I had got round the house, I saw the turkeys--a large `gang'of them. They were out in an old corn-field, feeding upon such of theseeds as had been dropped in the corn-gathering. They were too far offfor my gun to reach them, and I entered among the corn-stalks to getnear them.
"I soon perceived that they were feeding towards the woods, and thatthey were likely to enter them at a certain point. Could I only reachthat point before them, reflected I, I should be sure of a fair shot. Ihad only to go back to the house and keep around the edge of the field,where there happened to be some `cover.' In this way I should be sureto `head' them--that is, could I but reach the woods in time.
"I lost not a moment in setting out; and, running most of the way, Ireached the desired point.
"I was now about a mile from my friend's house--for the corn-field was avery large one--such as you may only see in the great plantations of thefar western world. I saw that I had `headed' the turkeys, with sometime to spare; and choosing a convenient log, I sat down to await theircoming. I placed myself in such a situation that I was completelyhidden by the broad green leaves of some bushy trees that grew over thelog.
"I had not been in that position over a minute I should think, when aslight rustling among the leaves attracted my attention. I looked, andsaw issuing from under the rubbish the long body of a snake. As yet, Icould not see its tail, which was hidden by the grass; but the form ofthe head and the peculiar chevron-like markings of the body, convincedme it was the `Banded Rattle-snake.' It was slowly gliding out intosome open ground, with the intention of crossing to a thicket upon theother side. I had disturbed it from the log, where it had no doubt beensunning itself; and it was now making away from me.
"My first thought was to follow the hideous reptile, and kill it; butreflecting that if I did so I should expose myself to the view of theturkeys, I concluded to remain where I was, and let it escape.
"I watched it slowly drawing itself along--for this species makes butslow progress--until it was near the middle of the glade, when I againturned my attention to the birds that had now advanced almost withinrange of my gun.
"I was just getting ready to fire, when a strange noise, like the gruntof a small pig, sounded in my ears from the glade, and again caused meto look in that direction. As I did so, my eyes fell upon a curiouslittle animal just emerging from the bushes. Its long, sharp snout--itspig-like form--the absence of a tail--the high rump, and whitish bandalong the shoulders, were all marks of description which I remembered.The animal could be no other than a peccary.
"As I gazed upon it with curious eyes, another emerged from the bushes,and then another, and another, until a good-sized drove of them were insight.
"The rattle-snake, on seeing the first one, had laid his head flat uponthe ground; and evidently terrified, was endeavouring to conceal himselfin the grass. But it was a smooth piece of turf, and he did notsucceed. The peccary had already espied him; and upon the instant hishinder parts were raised to their full height, his mane became rigid,and the hair over his whole body stood erect, radiating on all sidesoutwards. The appearance of the creature was changed in an instant, andI could perceive that the air was becoming impregnated with adisagreeable odour, which the incensed animal emitted from its dorsalgland. Without stopping longer than a moment, he rushed forward, untilhe stood within three feet of the body of the snake.
"The latter, seeing he could no longer conceal himself, threw himselfinto a coil, and stood upon his defence. His eyes glared with a fierylustre: the skir-r-r of his rattles could be heard almost incessantly;while with his upraised head he struck repeatedly in the direction ofhis enemy.
"These demonstrations brought the whole drove of peccaries to the spot,and in a moment a circle of them had formed around the reptile, that didnot know which to strike at, but kept launching out its head recklesslyin all directions. The peccaries stood with their backs highly archedand their feet drawn up together, like so many angry cats, threateningand uttering shrill grunts. Then one of them, I think the first thathad appeared, rose suddenly into the air, and with his four hoofs heldclose together, came pounce down upon the coiled body of the snake.Another followed in a similar manner, and another, and another, until Icould see the long carcase of the reptile unfolded, and writhing overthe ground.
"After a short while it lay still, crushed beneath their feet. Thewhole squad then seized it in their teeth, and tearing it to pieces,devoured it almost instantaneously.
"From the moment the peccaries had appeared in sight, I had given up allthoughts about the turkeys. I had
resolved to send my leaden messengerin quite a different direction. Turkeys I could have at almost anytime; but it was not every day that peccaries appeared. So I `slewed'myself round upon the log, raised my rifle cautiously, `marked' thebiggest `boar' I could see in the drove, and fired.
"I heard the boar squeak (so did all of them), and saw him fall over,either killed or badly wounded. But I had little time to tell which,for the smoke had hardly cleared out of my eyes, when I perceived thewhole gang of peccaries, instead of running away, as I had expected,coming full tilt towards me.
"In a moment I was surrounded by a dark mass of angry creatures, leapingwildly at my legs, uttering shrill grunts, and making their teeth cracklike castanets.
"I ran for the highest part of the log, but this proved no security.The peccaries leaped upon it, and followed. I struck with the butt ofmy clubbed gun, and knocked them off; but again they surrounded me,leaping upward and snapping at my legs, until hardly a shred remained ofmy trousers.
"I saw that I was in extreme peril, and put forth all my energies. Iswept my gun wildly around me; but where one of the fierce brutes wasknocked over, another leaped into his place, as determined as he. StillI had no help for it, and I shouted at the top of my voice, all thewhile battling with desperation.
"I still kept upon the highest point of the log, as there they could notall come around me at once; and I saw that I could thus better defendmyself. But even with this advantage, the assaults of the animals wereso incessant, and my exertions in keeping them off so continuous, that Iwas in danger of falling into their jaws from very exhaustion.
"I was growing weak and wearied--I was beginning to despair for mylife--when on winding my gun over my head in order to give force to myblows, I felt it strike against something behind me. It was the branchof a tree, that stretched over the spot where I was standing.
"A new thought came suddenly into my mind. Could I climb the tree? Iknew that they could not, and in the tree I should be safe.
"I looked upward; the branch was within reach. I seized upon it andbrought it nearer. I drew a long breath, and with all the strength thatremained in my body sprang upward.
"I succeeded in getting upon the limb, and the next moment I had crawledalong it, and sat close in by the trunk. I breathed freely--I was safe.
"It was some time before I thought of anything else than resting myself.I remained a full half-hour before I moved in my perch. Occasionally Ilooked down at my late tormentors. I saw that instead of going off,they were still there. They ran around the root of the tree, leaping upagainst its trunk, and tearing the bark with their teeth. They keptconstantly uttering their shrill, disagreeable grunts; and the odour,resembling the smell of musk and garlic, which they emitted from theirdorsal glands, almost stifled me. I saw that they showed no dispositionto retire, but, on the contrary, were determined to make me stand siege.
"Now and then they passed out to where their dead comrade lay upon thegrass, but this seemed only to bind their resolution the faster, forthey always returned again, grunting as fiercely as ever.
"I had hopes that my friend would be up by this time, and would come tomy rescue; but it was not likely neither, as he would not `miss' meuntil I had remained long enough to make my absence seem strange. As itwas, that would not be until after night, or perhaps far in the nextday. It was no unusual thing for me to wander off with my gun, and begone for a period of at least twenty hours.
"I sat for hours on my painful perch--now looking down at the spitefulcreatures beneath--now bending my eyes across the great corn-field, inhopes of seeing some one. At times the idea crossed my mind, that evenupon the morrow I might not be missed!
"I might perish with hunger, with thirst--I was suffering from both atthe moment--or even if I kept alive, I might become so weak as not to beable to hold on to the tree. My seat was far from being an easy one.The tree was small--the branch was slender. It was already cutting intomy thighs. I might, in my feebleness, be compelled to let it go, andthen--.
"These reflections were terrible; and as they came across my mind, Ishouted to the highest pitch of my voice, hoping I should be heard.
"Up to this time I had not thought of using my gun, although clinging toit instinctively. I had brought it with me into the tree. It nowoccurred to me to fire it, in hopes that my friend or some one mighthear the report.
"I balanced myself on the branch as well as I could, and loaded it withpowder. I was about to fire it off in the air, when it appeared to methat I might just as well reduce the number of my enemies. I thereforerammed down a ball, took aim at the forehead of one, and knocked himover.
"Another idea now arose in my mind, and that was, that I might serve thewhole gang as I had done this one. His fall had not frightened them inthe least; they only came nearer, throwing up their snouts and utteringtheir shrill notes--thus giving me a better chance of hitting them.
"I repeated the loading and firing. Another enemy the less.
"Hope began to return. I counted my bullets, and held my horn up to thesun. There were over twenty bullets, and powder sufficient. I countedthe peccaries. Sixteen still lived, with three that I had done for.
"I again loaded and fired--loaded and fired--loaded and fired. I aimedso carefully each time, that out of all I missed only one shot.
"When the firing ceased, I dropped down from my perch in the midst of ascene that resembled a great slaughter-yard. Nineteen of the creatureslay dead around the tree, and the ground was saturated with their blood!
"The voice of my friend at this moment sounded in my ears, and turning,I beheld him standing, with hands uplifted and eyes as large as saucers.
"The `feat' was soon reported through the settlement, and I was lookedupon for the time as the greatest hunter in the `Trinity Bottom.'"
