HOG-HUNTING 151 



pig the sportsman is only concerned with the 

 full-grown male, for these only are ridden and 

 speared. The boar is fit to hunt at about five 

 years old, and is at his very best, from the 

 hunter's point of view, from that to ten 

 years of age. After that the boar loses his 

 speed, though what he wants in pace he often 

 makes up in ferocity. The younger boars 

 generally seek safety in flight and only attack 

 when pursued or wounded. The older males 

 will sometimes attack you before you have 

 interfered with them, and w^ill almost always do 

 so if you press them in the chase, even though 

 you may not have touched them with the spear. 

 The size of the boar varies according to the 

 district you find him in, and the plentifulness of 

 food, but the average pig runs about thirty-two 

 inches. Many are not more than twenty-eight 

 inches, and a boar of thirty-six inches is a big- 

 one, though in exceptional cases they may reach 

 forty-two inches. The largest boar I ever saw 

 killed measured a fraction over thirty-six and a 

 half inches at the wither. His tushes, which I 

 have, are nine inches, but seven to eight inches 

 is a more ordinary length. The tushes I have 

 make a circle, and this is generally the case with 

 complete ones, but of course, when old boars 

 are killed these are often found broken or im- 

 perfect. The tushes, which are found in the 



