Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1885-08-24

y
was the remnant of the drove of pee
carries.
'Waitin' fur us, by gravy!' said my
fireman.
80 they were. As we tore down
on 'em they braced up and met us face
to face. They sprang ut the wheels,
grabbed at the side rods, and fought
every truck in the train as the cars
passed them. A dozen or more of
them were killed. The peccaries didn't
follow us, but when we went back on
the next trip, there, at the same spot,
was posted all that was left of the
drove, evidently waiting to revenge the
death of their companions. The drove
was reduced to twelve. The twelve
planted themselves square on the track,
facing us. and never moved an inch as
we dashed upon EN- and scattered EN-
right and left along the rails. Looking
back after the train had passed the
spot, we saw one solitary peccary left
alive out of the drove. | told the
native, at the end of the run, about the
persistent pluck of the peccaries and
about killing them all but one,
81 don't s'pose we'll see him agan,
said /.
"'Oh, he'll be thar said the native.
'Yc kin bet a bucket O. liquor he'll be
thar! Pec'ries don't know sctch a
thing as backin' out OF fight. Tell
be thar
And he was there. We could see
him for mile ahead of us, when we
went back next day, standing plumb in
the middle of the track, or. rather,
squatting on his launches, waiting for
us. 1t seemed pity to run him down.
He rose to his feet as we drew near
him and rushed forward to meet us.
The engine struck him and hurled him
fifty feet out into the woods. We had
finished the drove.
II found out q good many things
about the peccary before | left Texas.
There was time when nothing would
kill a pcccary but the poisoned arrows
of the Central American Indians, but
that was before the days of Winchester
rifles. A bullet from Winchester is
Just searching enough to find a pee
cary's vitals, but the range don't want
to be too long. When man goes out
hunting peccaries he doesn't trip
lightly through the forest, and, stealing
upon the unsuspecting game, bring it
down with his unerring rifle. No. not
when he hunts pcccarics. If he did,
nineteen seconds after he fired his first
shot he would be apportioned out
among the drove in two-ounce lots,
buttons, boots and baggage counted in,
The daring peccary hunter shins up a
tall tree. near where the charming
creature will more than likely soon
come to feed on acorns or mast. The
peccary has but one virtue--hc can
climb tree. Perched safely on :
limb, the brave huntsman waits for tn,
peccary's coming, and when the drove
comes trotting and grunting along be-
meath him, he sends bullet through q
peccary's heart. The wounded pee.
cary lies down at once. He know,
Just what's the matter. He turns hi,
glttering lead of an eye up to th,
hunter, and dies without uttering ,
sound One peccary killed out of +
drove, the hunter must have ammum
ton enough to kill all the rest or pro
visions enough to last him a year, fol
the survivors at once take positions
around the foot of the tree, and there
they sit on their launches, now and thcl
gnawing furiously at the trunk of tht
tree, waiting for the hunter to com
down. If hate, in the fullest sense o
the word, can be expressed by look
and actions, then the peccary can loo
and act it toward human beings.
"'No, s-a-a-hn said the native rail
roadcr to me once. The pcc'ry hahn
got no use f fear. An as 4 BEN
tough. never heerd o. nawthin' no
whar as tough as they be. A hip
mus is only iis' farnin' to be tough
longsidc OF pec'ry. If didn't know
noways else that pGc'ries wasn't 'feer,
: o nawthin' an was tough, I'd know i
thrum what ! see with my own eye
once. see cycloon tearin' Ion
over the perairy one day, an lightnin
was jaggin' about in it like fireworks
An roar? Great t'rantuly's ghost
how it did roar! was so 'feerd that
| jis' laid down an shuck. The clou
. was kin O. cattycornerin' way thru
me, an want more'n a quarter of
, mile of. 1t was cutt.n' right along til
grass, an oh! how that ightnin' d.
, jag! had to keep my eyes on it, al
I what did | see but big druv o pec'r.c
tearin' right along to git in front of
I an tackle it. Its roarin' had 'sturbc
'em, s'pect, an they iis' resht out t
1 git p lick at it. WAL, now, it j
D swooped Mr.. Pec'ries up inter il
7 bowels bout as slick as anythin' Y
, ever see, an then fire begun to fly
/ chunks out O. that black cloud-piecC
O. lghtnin', foot long, some OF EN-
r'rhat cycloon's grindin' sassigt
t out O. them pcc'ries, sure, | says, bl
they're more'n maxim the sparks fl
Q out O the mill, says |.
o 'Seddintly the cycloon turned al
G tore back towards whar l was layin
r 'feerd O. my life. 1t passed by me s
e nigh that l had to dig my fingers al
toes in the dirt an hold on to kee
| thrum j'inin' it. AS it slid by l st
, what was maxim the fire fly. coul
: see them pcc'ries in the cloud as plai
as kin see you this minute, an the
e was nippin' into them sharp jags
e lightnin' tooth an nail, an bitin' G
!, an THROWN out chunks O. the dealt
e dealin' stuff foot long. l follert
: that cycloon with my eye for ten mil
v an could see them chunks O. lightni
S fallin' all the way. Jis fur curiosity
O walked over the track o. that clor
u mex day, an never foun' dead peer
O but | come out in sight of flock
: 'em feedin' jis' whar the cycloon let u
an | could see that they was singed
s leetle, an know'd they wus the on
that had tackled that big ball O. wiz
II an lightnin', an tuckered it out
"You may think the native drew it
p little strong" concluded the enginee
"but then you've never seen pc
> cary."-M Y. Sun.
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