CREATURES OF THE WILDERNESS 81 



nobleman with large estates in Spain assuring 

 me some years ago that he fully intended pre- 

 serving it for the same purpose on his property, 

 though whether he ever carried out his inten- 

 tion I have never heard. 



Belgium is overrun with wild boars, mostly 

 from the Ardennes, in hard winter weather, 

 and these audacious brutes even invade the 

 villages round Verviers during the heavy snow- 

 storms, seeking what they may devour. Indeed, 

 on one occasion a farmer was charged by one 

 in broad daylight in the streets of Jalhay ; and 

 the boar is so ruinous to Belgian farmers that 

 it may be shot at sight without licence or 

 hindrance. Occasionally it gives good sport 

 when hunted with hounds. I remember an 

 occasion on which, not far from Bievre, a 

 falconer, who was abroad at daybreak in search 

 of a lost hawk, came on an immense boar in 

 a pine clearing. The boar having been located, 

 the local pack was quickly turned out, and the 

 boar gave them a first-rate run over the snow, 

 through Fleurifoy and along the banks of the 

 little river that runs past it. At length the 

 boar got desperate and suddenly turned on 

 the horse ridden by the Master, the Baron 

 de Crawhez. The Baron, however, snatched 

 his horse on one side and subsequently gave 

 the boar the coup de grace, though not before 

 several of his best hounds had been killed by 



