72 SHIKAR SKETCHES. 



most antagonist in a savage and sidelong charge. 

 Of course the honour of touching the boar with 

 the spear first is what all contend for. The 

 slightest prick that draws blood is sufficient, 

 though the hog maybe quite uninjured by it, and 

 the animal, by whomever actually despatched, is 

 nevertheless said to be killed by the man who 

 gets first spear (to whom the tusks belong) and is 

 always alluded to as his hog. 



Pig are generally found in the worst part of 

 a bad country, and seem to feel bound in honour 

 when once started to lead their pursuers over 

 the roughest ground they possibly can ; so, if 

 you intend mischief, go straight you must! It 

 is no good looking the more you do so, pro- 

 bably, the less you will like it ! Eemember, 

 the worse the ground is for you, the better it 

 is for the pig ; and, if not rattled and blown from 

 the beginning, he may go on for miles, and event- 

 ually beat you. The stony and rocky nature of 

 some of the ground you may possibly ride over, 

 will perhaps at first alarm you not for your own 

 safety, perhaps, so much as for your horse's legs 

 and feet. Often you cannot gallop safely for 

 thirty or forty yards together, where holes or 

 cracks in the sun-baked ground, probably covered 

 with long grass, abound, and the best advice I 

 can give you is to forget your horse has any legs, 



