HUNTING IN THE INDIES 213 



sharp as a razor, and if not one of the finest workman- 

 ship, should be of iron. An old file makes an ex- 

 cellent couteau -de- chasse. Inferior steel is worse 

 than useless. The way to test a knife is to drive 

 it through a penny ; if it will not stand this it is 

 useless. As the following anecdote will prove, Eng- 

 lish hunting - knives, though bearing well - known 

 Sheffield names, are not to be relied upon always. 



One morning F and I were out with his hounds. 



They soon found, but to our disgust, before they had 

 run far, their cry turned to furious barking, inter- 

 spersed with doleful yellings, which left no doubt as to 

 the nature of the game. We hurried towards them. 



On arriving on the scene we found the boar — for 

 such we had rightly concluded it to be — had taken 

 refuge in a thicket of dense lantana jungle, where we 

 could hardly see him. What was worse, we could 

 not possibly get to him, the only openings being a 

 couple of game runs not two feet high. Meanwhile 



F was nearly distracted with fear for his hounds, 



which were, no doubt, getting sadly mauled. At last 

 we decided that I should take the spear F 's dog- 

 boy carried, and crawling in on the path behind him 



endeavour to make him break bay. F stationed 



himself by the only other exit. At first I got along 

 on hands and knees, but soon the thorns were too low 

 for that, and I had to lie flat on the ground. I must 

 own that I did not like the situation. Supposing the 

 pig had changed position, and was facing me. He 

 would most likely charge me, and, prostrate as I was, 

 I could hardly hope to stop him. However, fortune 

 favoured me, and I soon saw his broad quarters turned 

 towards me. Eaising myself silently, I drove the 

 spear into them with all my force. He at once broke 



