HOG-HUNTING. 71 



decided advantage. From the time the boar 

 starts till he is speared it is nothing but a hardly- 

 contested race, and the best man on the best horse 

 has, of course, the advantage; but it is not all 

 over yet, for it is one thing to come up first with 

 the boar and another thing to take first spear, 

 a feat requiring a deal of management which, to a 

 novice, is not at all clear. If alone, a man can 

 choose his own time to deliver his spear and make 

 sure, but with several other competitors straining 

 every nerve to pass you, and ready to take ad- 

 vantage of any turn, or mistake on your part, it 

 is a different thing, and not quite so easy as it 

 may seem. On the leading man coming within a 

 few yards, the pig makes a sudden turn, or 'jink, 1 

 and with such lightning-like rapidity is it done 

 that, unless the foremost horseman is mounted on 

 a veteran hog-hunter that will turn with the pig, 

 he is thrown out to an extent that it will take a 

 good hundred yards to make up, for it is aston- 

 ishing how much ground a pig will gain in these 

 ' jinks.' Now is the time for the second rider to 

 make his push, and, according as he displays more 

 or less skill, the hog is either speared or missed. 

 Perhaps four or five men come up in succession, 

 each thrown out in turn, until at last the boar is 

 blown, and succumbs. Occasionally, however, a 

 hog is speared without a turn, meeting his fore- 



