Boar at Hackgalla. 237 



ot his being seized, but the fierce barking of old Smut, 

 mingled with the savage grunts of the boar, and the oc- 

 casional cry of a wounded dog, explained the hopeless 

 nature of the contest. Again I cheered them on, and 

 suddenly Smut came up to me from the fight, which 

 was now not ten paces distant, but perfectly concealed 

 in thick bamboo underwood. The old dog was cov- 

 ered with blood, his back was bristled up, and his deep 

 growl betokened his hopeless rage. Poor old dog! he 

 had his death-wound. He seemed cut nearly in half; 

 a wound fourteen inches in length from the lower part 

 of the belly passed up his flank, completely severing the 

 muscle of the hind leg, and extending up to the spine. 

 His hind leg had the appearance of being nearly off, 

 and he dragged it after him in its powerless state, and, 

 with a fierce bark, he rushed upon three legs once more 

 to the fight. Advancing to within six feet of the boar, 

 I could not even see him, both he and the dogs were so 

 perfectly concealed by the thick underwood. Suddenly 

 the boar charged. I jumped upon a small rock and 

 hoped for a' shot, but, although he came within three 

 feet of the rifle, I could neither see him nor could he 

 see me. Had it not been for the fear of killing the 

 dogs, I would have fired where the bushes were moving, 

 but as it was I could do nothing. A rifle was useless 

 in such jungle. At length the boar broke his bay, but 

 again resumed it in a similar secure position. There 

 was no possibility of assisting the dogs, and he was cut- 

 ting up the pack in detail. If Lucifer and Lena had 

 been there, we could have killed him, but without 

 seizers we were helpless in such jungle. 



This lasted for an hour, at the expiration of which 

 we managed to call the dogs off. Old Smut had stuck 



