Not only
did they never attack human beings, under any stress of hunger, but they
made no effective resistance when brought to bay, merely scratching and
cuffing like a big cat; so that if found in a cave, it was safe to creep
in and shoot them with a revolver. Jaguars, on the contrary, were very
dangerous antagonists.
CHAPTER VI.--A PECCARY HUNT ON THE NUECES.
In the United States the peccary is only found in the southernmost
corner of Texas. In April 1892, I made a flying visit to the ranch
country of this region, starting from the town of Uvalde with a Texan
friend, Mr. John Moore. My trip being very hurried, I had but a couple
of days to devote to hunting.
Our first halting-place was at a ranch on the Frio; a low, wooden
building, of many rooms, with open galleries between them, and verandas
round about. The country was in some respects like, in others strangely
unlike, the northern plains with which I was so well acquainted. It
was for the most part covered with a scattered growth of tough,
stunted mesquite trees, not dense enough to be called a forest, and
yet sufficiently close to cut off the view.
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