i66 RIDIAG, DRIVING AND KINDRED SPORTS 



There is nowhere such sleep as in camp, and 

 it seems but a moment ere one hears the chant 

 of the bearer, repeated till you awake, " Cha 

 tai-yar hai, sahib!' By the time the tea is 

 finished you are wide awake. Boots are pulled 

 on easily : for the wise man in India always 

 has his riding-boots a size too large for him, at 

 all events for pig-sticking. Now pass your 

 thumb along the edge of the spears, which 

 should have been sharpened for the occasion ; 

 a blunt spear will spoil your hunt, and may 

 cost you a good horse. Then comes the beat : 

 either you may find yourself riding behind the 

 line of beaters, or posted at favourable points 

 for them to beat up to you — this depends on 

 the nature of the covert. But wherever you 

 are placed, stay there ; and above all things do 

 not attempt to ride the pig till the signal is 

 given, or, if you are by yourself, until the pig 

 is well away. If you ride pig too soon they 

 will almost invariably jink back again to the 

 jungle ; and there no one can stop them, nor 

 can they be induced to break again. The beat 

 is an exciting moment. You know, of course, 

 the pig are there, because the shikari should 

 always have " harboured " them to a certain 

 extent. The question is when and where they 

 will break, and whether the big boar will be 

 with them or whether he will have crept 



