28 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



him between us, we advanced shoulder to shoul- 

 der against the now infuriated boar. This last 

 taunt was too much for him, and, staggering up, 

 out he came in a blundering charge. I caught 

 him fair on my spear, which snapped in two, and 

 over I went on the broad of my back, with a hor- 

 rible sensation that I should shortly be disem- 

 bowelled. But it was the gallant boar's last effort, 

 for the steel had gone home, and he fell dead, 

 with a grunt of defiance, within three feet of me. 



He was not a large boar (only thirty-two inches 

 high at the shoulder, with tusks five inches long), 

 though long, lean, and muscular ; but what a gal- 

 lant heart beat within that bristly body ! What 

 other animal except the wild hog of India would 

 exhibit such indomitable pluck ? Speared no less 

 than nine times, many of the wounds being in 

 almost vital spots, knocked over several times, 

 with a spear sticking in him that, as it swayed 

 about with his every movement, must have been 

 the cause of intense agony, he yet disdained from 

 the first to seek safety in the flight that would 

 probably have saved his life, but preferred to 

 stand and fight like a hero, and ' die as a boar 

 should die,' before he yielded up his gallant life. 



Every true sportsman, I think, feels at times a 

 certain amount of regret at taking the life of an 

 animal that has fought well to defend itself, and, 



