HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



upstanding half-bred dog of English parents, and now 

 makes his point at full speed. In the meantime Lifter 

 must look after himself, and the master tells off a dog boy 

 to keep in touch with him and Bountiful, who has for- 

 tunately joined him. 



Having ascertained, more or less, the direction he has 

 taken we turn all our attention to the pack, now in full cry, 

 and across a ferny hollow we get a momentary glimpse of the 

 old boar's back as he gallops through the bracken. Now 

 as he tops a low ridge on the edge of the forest, some few 

 hundred yards off, he stands for a second and half turns to 

 listen. A grand beast without a doubt, but not yet hard 

 pressed enough to adopt offensive measures against the yell- 

 ing pack at his heels. At a good swinging trot he runs 

 a steep slope topped by a patch of thick jungle of a few 

 acres in extent, and the proverbial pocket-handkerchief 

 could cover his pursuers, as they stream up the hillside 

 and dash into the forest on the line. Soon a savage bay 

 is heard as some eight couple of hounds " bail him up " 

 in a dense thicket of bamboo. We are now close up, having 

 saved nearly a quarter of a mile by a short cut down a 

 ravine and up the other side. Knives are ready and seizers 

 are slipped, but in the deep shadow of forest trees and 

 dense scrub it is hard to distinguish hounds from boar. 

 He makes short, swift charges into the thick of them, and 

 the pack divides to let him through, and closes up again as 

 he turns to face them. A yelp of pain is heard again and 

 again as the fight proceeds, and as we close in upon him 

 once more the wicked " Woof-woof" seems right in amongst 

 us. How he passed through without one of us getting a 

 taste of his gleaming white tushes is a miracle, but he breaks 

 his bay again, and makes his point across a narrow strip of 

 patna. The bamboo has been too thick for the long-dogs 



1 80 



