Hog- hunting. 183 



Prendergast had begged of me not to ride the gray, 

 and I could have had any of his, but I was 

 obstinate. The ground was the very worst of cotton 

 soils, with baubul bushes growing here and there ; 

 the river was about half a mile off. Alone on the 

 right, and seeing the direction the riders were taking, 

 I cut straight across, and got to the bed of the 

 stream, there a mass of sand. The horse being alone 

 did very well, and as the boar was bounding over the 

 " deep going " a few hundred yards away, and I did 

 not care if the horse bolted here or not, for he 

 would soon be brought up, it was such "ploughing" 

 I let him out. C., S., and I were all pretty close, so 

 we rode the hog through the long grass of one 

 lunkah (island) towards another. There was no water, 

 but depressions pointed where the channels had 

 existed. 



The grass on the second island was very high, and 

 in it we lost sight of the boar. Beyond, all was open. 

 He had not gone that way, but he could not be 

 found anywhere. In the meanwhile Prendergast and 

 the others killed three, one proving a barren sow. 

 We had syces following us with extra spears. Sud- 

 denly they separated, yelling out, " Pundaloo ! 

 pundaloo!" (pig! pig')- The boar had doubled back. 

 Being the lightest weight and on the fastest horse, I 

 again led the way ; but the boar had a good start, 

 reached the river-bank, and scrambled up its almost 

 perpendicular side. To follow on horseback was im- 

 possible, so I galloped along looking for an incline less 

 steep, and at last saw a narrow track, made probably 

 by goats. It was steep and the soil very crumbly, 

 but I wanted the spear, so I rammed my horse, now 



