16 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



him sooner or later some glorious trophies, and 

 introduce him to scenes of jungle life the recollec- 

 tion of which will never be erased from his 

 memory, and which, even when his eyes begin to 

 grow dim, and time to silver his once dark locks, 

 when he gets on a strange horse with less confi- 

 dence than in former days in short, to use the 

 words of that grand old Indian hunting-song 

 4 The Mighty Boar' 



' When age hath weakened manhood's powers 

 And every nerve unbraced,' 



the remembrance of such scenes must make the 

 pulse beat faster, restore for the moment the 

 worn-out nerve, brighten the eye, re-kindle the 

 fire of youth, and prove, whilst memory lasts, a 

 source of honest pride to him who has had the 

 good fortune to witness and participate in them. 

 But a truce to moralizing, for I now propose to 

 relate a good ' scuffle ' (as a dear old friend of 

 mine used to term it) I once had with the ' grim 

 grey boar,' in the hope that it may bring back 

 memories of pleasant pig-sticking days to those 

 who have participated in this, to my mind, most 

 enjoyable of sports, and fire generous youth, who 

 has not yet had the opportunity, to go and do 

 likewise when it does occur. 



It was my good fortune some years ago (a good 

 many, alas !) to be quartered at Kamptee, in the 



