134 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



ing with his meal. When wounded or 

 surrounded these animals, especially the 

 males, will fight their way to death or to 

 safety, and as if in contempt of the impres- 

 sion that they could be frightened away 

 from a luxuriant and inviting field of 

 cereal they have been known to attack a 

 watch-hut, tear it down and tusk the 

 unfortunate watchman. The old male 

 pigs are said to be specially ferocious, and 

 are aesrressive in the maintenance of their 

 right to .roam at pleasure. In western 

 China, especially in Kwei-chow, the natives 

 hunt the wild pig with perseverance and 

 courage and delight in the dangers of such 

 a chase. The weapons generally used by 

 the natives are the matchlock, and long 

 bladed spears with short handles, the blades 

 being of tough iron with a fine steel cope. 

 The most convenient places for foreigners 

 to " hunt the wild boar " is in the Yangtze 

 Valley, on the mountains near Ta-tung or 

 even across the river opposite Nanking. 

 Wild pigs are more numerous in upper Hu- 

 nan and lower Kwei-chow, but those places 

 are not so accessible. 



Wolves : These animals are numerous in 

 various parts of China, and the natives call 



