HOG-HUNTING 165 



attacks different people In different degrees, but 

 if it is bad, and you have a skin like a boiled 

 lobster and a temper like a rat-trap, there is 

 nothino- for it but tiioht to Naini Tal, Murree, 

 or Simla, whichever station is the nearest to your 

 hunting-ground. Lastly, never keep uncovered 

 at night, however great the heat, but throw a 

 light blanket over your middle. In the hot 

 weather the changes of temperature are often 

 very great. If you are in fairly good condition 

 — and you certainly ought to be for pig-sticking 

 — thirst will not trouble you, and you should, 

 after the morning tea, drink as litde as possible 

 till the day's work is over. 



Pig-sticking is a sport which is as delightful 

 in its accompaniments as it is exciting in itself. 

 For my own part I delight in it all, from the 

 moment when one arrives at the camp till the 

 return to ordinary life. Pleasant is the scene 

 In the camp, pleasant the dinner, which is sure 

 to be a good one ; pleasantest of all the cheroot 

 in the clear. Eastern moonlight ; pleasant, too, 

 to lie for a short time and listen to the barking 

 of a distant dog or the wild chants of the jackals 

 before you fall asleep. I have heard people 

 abuse the cry of the jackal as melancholy, and 

 even as blood-curdling, but to me it Is always 

 connected with the pleasures of the chase, and 

 has, therefore, a music of its own. 



