160 JOURNAL OF THE TRINIDAD 



veteran, though no less brave, couples his courage with prudence 

 and coolly scrambles up to the bank above ; then, when the others 

 are making a demonstration in front and the quenk's attention 

 is fully fixed, he lakes the opportunity and leaping boldly down 

 on top of the pig seizes him by the back of the neck where he 

 holds on with bull-dog tenacity. The others close in and now 

 there is a grand rough-and tumble in which hair and fur, 

 dead leaves and sticks fly, and blood flows, and the air is filled 

 with squeals and yelps. First pig then dogs are getting the 

 mastery, but the latter are at a disadvantage as their teeth do 

 not inflict any serious wounds, while the boar's tusks, so deftly 

 used, draw blood at every stroke. The dogs snarl, growl, yelp 

 and bite and the furious gleaming tusks rip with merciless ell'ect 

 and chatter with frightful rapidity. It cannot last much longer 

 and it is a question after all whether the pig will not be able to 

 free himself of his antagonists and leave the field the victor, for 

 Gertrude is disabled and Ball is down unde. - his feet hors de 

 combat. It is a brave light bat the oils in favour of the dogs 

 are suddenly increased; piggy is defeated almost in the 

 moment of victory. Something leaps from the bank right into 

 the mass of maddened anim ds and in a second the fight is over, the 

 quenk is down, for Arthar Carr his his foot on his neck. Bull 

 extricates and drags himself away. Sammy rushes forward 

 and drives the lance sure an 1 deep into the brave boar's heart and 

 the plucky pig dies without a groan. The digs arc be iten oil 

 but not withoul di They are mad with excitement and 



wounds and are anxious to tear the dead foe to pieces. Boney 

 comes up with a coA business-like air and disembowels the game 

 throwing the entrails t i the dogs who are thereby somewhat 

 pacified. I am too tired to move, but my companions are as 

 fresh as possible; like true huntsmen their first care is for their 

 canine friends. Poor Gertrude is lying on the bank with glazing 

 eves and the blood flowing in a steady stream from her chest. 

 This is stopped by the application of a poultice of the half 

 digested food found in the quenk's stomach. She tries to rise but 

 falls down again. Besides this serious wound she has her lip cut 

 open, a wound on the top of the neck and another one in her 

 side/-" Melon has three small rips under the front legs 

 and a scratch over the eye while a portion of his jaw-bone is laid 

 bare. Bull has a gash on the ribs on his right side, another under 

 the right fore leg and a third on his crown. Jubilee has one 

 neck wound and two under the fore legs. Blackie has a cut 

 behind the ear, one in the neck and a deep one in the throat. 

 Cook the wary one, escaped with two small scratches — but then 



*Gertrude lingered on for a few months and eventually died in spite of 

 the assiduous care of her masters, with whom she was a great favourite. 



