SPORT IN THE JUNGLES OF N. INDIA 157 



nullah, some stopping to plough up the stones and sand in 

 a search for a succulent root. There were several fair-sized 

 boars and I should have liked to have had a shot at the old 

 boar. But I was not out to fire at pig. The havildah's 

 longing was far greater than mine, for he was a Gurkha, and 

 a Gurkha can never see a pig without coveting its death, for 

 he loves above all things the flesh of the wild boar. This fact 

 was, of course, well known to me, but I had told the man, 

 then a new servant, but destined to accompany me in many 

 a shooting-trip all over India and to prove the staunchest 

 companion and servant one could desire to have, that I 

 should not shoot at pig that day. Also I had imagined that 

 it was too frequented a spot at this time of the year to 

 render it probable that a sounder would choose that route 

 for their return from the fields at sunrise to the heavy 

 forest. An old boar is at all times a dangerous customer to 

 encounter in the forest as his temper is most uncertain and, 

 when wounded, he becomes a savage and vindictive foe, 

 pursuing and charging his enemy with untiring watchfulness 

 and cunning. The boars are armed with long tusks in the 

 jaws, the upper and lower front teeth on either side of the 

 mouth being prolonged into short curved ivory tushes 

 which may grow 

 to seven inches 

 or more in 

 length. With 

 this formidable 

 weapon a boar 

 can rip open a 

 man or horse or 

 other animal 

 with as clean a 

 cut as could be 

 inflicted with a 

 sharp heavy 

 knife. When 

 you remember 

 that the wild boar is also a very speedy and extremely power- 

 ful animal and can keep ahead of a horse for a considerable 

 time you can perceive that he is not exactly an easy customer 

 to tackle on foot even by a grown man armed with a rifle, as 

 many have discovered to their cost. In the forest most 

 animals, even the tiger, are content to let an old wild boar 



