THE BOAR. 191

with great strength and ferocity. When in a wild state the
boar ig a dangerous and inconvenient neighbour, for he com-
mits serious depredations upon the property of the peasan.
and the farmer. Bruce in his travels gives an illustration of
this. He says: “We pitched our tent in a smal! plain by the
banks of a quick clear running stream; the spot is called
Mai-Shum. A peasant had made a very neat little garden,
on both sides of the rivulet, in which he had sown abundance
of onions and garlic, and he had a species of pumpkin which
I thought was little inferior to a melon. This man guessed
by our arms and our horses that we were hunters, and he
brought us a present of the fruits of his garden, and begged
our assistance against a number of wild boars, which carried
havoc and desolation through all his labours, marks of which
were, indeed, too visible everywhere.—Amongst us all we
killed five boars, all large ones, in the space of about two
hours; one of which measured six feet nine inches; and
though he ran at an amazing speed near two miles, so as to
be with difficulty overtaken by the horse, and was struck
through and through with two heavy lances loaded at the
end with iron, no person dared to come near him on foot,
and he defended himself above half an hour, till having no
other arms left, I shot him with a horse-pistol.” The tusks
of the wild boar are often a foot in length and his hide is
so tough that small bullets have been found between the skin
and the flesh of captured specimens.
The Common Authorities differ as to whether the domestic
Hog. pig is derived from the wild species or not, but
certain it is that the domestic hog under suitable circumstances,
‘betrays wild instincts. Hogs have been known to hunt
rabbits and poultry and attack lambs when temporarily free
from restraint, and instances have been recorded in which
the hog has attacked and killed its keeper. The hog grows to
agreat size, the measurements of one belonging to Mr. Lunton
of Bodmain some years ago being nine feet in length and