12 REMINISCENCES OF PIG-STICKING. 



as I shall call him in future, for brevity's sake, stop- 

 ped to meditate whether he should break back for the 

 village or go on — he preferred the latter ; gently trot- 

 ting away along the west bank of the khal, the riders 

 going parallel to him along the east bank. I will give 

 a short description of this khal or artificial canal, as I 

 shall have to mention it more than once in My Re- 

 miniscences. It was one that connected two bils about 

 three miles apart, and was from 30' to 40' broad at the 

 top and about 20' or 25' at the base ; in some places it 

 was pretty deep, but most of it was from 2' to 4' deep, 

 with a very nasty and soft bottom. " Outram," as I 

 said before, was going along the left bank, casting every 

 now and then a look of contempt at his pursuers on the 

 opposite side. After going thus for about half a mile or 

 so, Hills thought that it was an infernal shame to allow 

 this tame game to go on any longer. The riders were 

 trying to find a proper place to ford. " Outram," who 

 had gone a little ahead, found out what we were about, 

 for the next moment with a savage grunt he plunged into 

 the khal and charged the opposite side, scattering the 

 riders in every direction. For a few minutes he stood 

 still rather surprised, I should say, at his own audacity ; 

 but with another look of contempt he resumed his jour- 

 ney this time along the east bank of the khal, but with 

 no space between him and the water for a rider to get 

 through. 



Malcolm, who was on a grey country-bred pony, took 

 advantage of a place where the khal had a rather broader 



