THE WILD BOAR 385 



one of which measured six feet nine inches ; and though 

 he ran at an amazing speed near two miles, so as to be with 

 difficulty overtaken by the horse, and was struck through 

 and through with two heavy lances loaded at the end with 

 iron, no person dared come near him on foot, and he 

 defended himself above half an hour, till, having no other 

 arms left, I shot him with a horse-pistol/ 



Captain Shakespeare describes a hunt in which a gaunt 

 animal made an amazing fight for its life. It was speared 

 in its withers, but wrested the weapon out of the officer's 

 hand, snapping the shaft in two as it darted into the jungle 

 after a fierce run of seventy yards. In reaching cover the 

 Boar ran under the horse of a shikarry, lifting up the animal 

 and causing its rider to be thrown to the ground. When 

 Captain Shakespeare, leaving his horse because of the 

 undergrowth, came up with the animal, three dogs were 

 holding it at bay. The Boar, perceiving his approach, 

 charged down upon him, receiving a bullet in the neck 

 from a distance of only fifteen yards. This failed to stop 

 its career, as did a second shot that broke its under jaw- 

 bone. The next instant the Captain was knocked com- 

 pletely over, the Boar wounding him in the left arm as it 

 ran over him, and almost in the same instant another native 

 was hurled to the ground as the infuriated animal again 

 took flight. A third shot pierced the creature's brain, and 

 it fell dead without a groan. 



Sir Samuel Baker in Ceylon often hunted the Boar on 

 foot with dogs and armed only with a hunting-knife, with 

 which to meet the animal at close quarters. He says it 

 abounds in the low country in astonishing numbers, where 

 it is a useful scavenger in clearing up the carcasses of dead 

 animals. The natives prize the flesh of the Wild Boar, but the 

 Englishman never fancied it after seeing the animals gorging 

 themselves upon a putrid elephant. Ceylon Boars often 

 scale at least four hundredweights, though Sir Samuel Baker 

 reports having sighted one that must have weighed double. 



The Wild Boars of other regions such as East India 

 islands, Japan, Northern Africa, &c., are too much alike in 

 appearance and habit to render description useful or 

 specially interesting. 



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