4 88 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



crocodile. The boar's back was broken, but he got into the 

 stream. I was off in a moment and grasped a hind leg ; 

 Williamson joined me in a second and got hold of the other, 

 and we hauled with all our might ; but our feet could not get 

 a firm hold of the ground, the sand kept slipping away from 

 underneath, and not wishing for a bath just then, we let go and 

 ran up the bank, calling for assistance. We heard a snort, and 

 turning round had the pleasure of seeing a knob at the end 

 of a snout project, seize the still struggling but half-drowned 

 boar in his massive jaws and slowly sink into the slimy depths 

 below. We got our rifles and stood there a good half-hour in 

 the hopes of seeing the saurian once more, but never saw him 

 or his prey again. It was now getting hot, and we saw no 

 prospect of any more sport. I went back towards the 

 elephants, but Williamson rode on a little further. There was 

 a cry of " Geddha ! " (rhinoceros). I seized the first weapon 

 I could get hold of; it was one of Williamson's double 

 8-bores. A cow rhinoceros with a three-parts-grown calf 

 rushed past. I saluted her with both barrels ; this was too much 

 for Elgin, he broke away from the man who held him and 

 scampered across the plain ; the pachyderm, wild with fury, 

 caught sight of him and made for him. They luckily galloped 

 in a circle, so I managed to get in and to kill the rhinoceros. 

 I then had to walk home, for Elgin was not recovered till late 

 that afternoon. 



Now took place a most unique occurrence. Williamson on 

 his mare, seeing the juvenile pachyderm fairly out in the open, 

 rode it, spear in hand. His mare at first objected to go near 

 the uncouth beast, especially objecting to its squealing ; but 

 W. was a determined rider and forced her alongside, and, 

 holding the spear by the butt, drove it in behind the shoulder 

 with all his might, and was astonished at the ease with which 

 it penetrated. But the youngster, on receiving the wound, 

 made such diabolical noises that the mare reared, and he had 

 to let go of the weapon and become an inactive spectator. 

 The antics of the stricken beast, he declared, were most 

 grotesque ; he capered, he shook himself, he sprang from side 

 to side, roaring and squealing the while, the shaft of the spear 

 swaying about like the arm of a windmill ; and W. was on the 



