j 98 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



speed. Frightful accidents are therefore frequently 

 met with. Even the best fox-hunters, fresh from 

 home, are at first incredulous that any horse can 

 traverse such land ; but use is second nature, and 

 after a while a man will go over it as fast as his 

 gallant mount can lay legs to the ground. Let a 

 dozen men start together, say, on the best Arabs, 

 which are the surest-footed of all the nags I know, 

 and ride hard for first spear, at least one-third will 

 come to grief before they have gone a mile. There 

 is seldom jumping, as at home, but many of our 

 blind nullahs are not to be despised, and require a 

 hunter which can clear from fifteen to eighteen feet. 

 For pig-sticking your mount should be not only 

 speedy but tractable ; the former without the latter 

 is entirely unsuited. A hog will turn or double 

 like a hare, so a headstrong animal is useless after 

 them. At times cactus hedges and scind-bunds 

 (date palms planted closely together) are met with, 

 and have to be cleared. Then you require a clean 

 jumper. Take it all in all, and I have tried every 

 kind of sport in the world, nothing approaches this 

 princely pleasure, for in it there is good fellowship, 

 emulation for first spear, a dangerous foe to contend 

 with, and, every variety of ground to ride over, and 

 as the old song before alluded to says : 



Youth's daring spirit, manhood's fire, 



A firm hand and eagle eye, doth he require 



Who would aspire to see the wild boar die. 



But to return to our fascinating subject. About 

 3 P.M., the bugle sounds, and every man rouses him- 

 self. Horses are saddled, girths tightened, spears 



