ADVENTURES IN CAMP AND JUNGLE. 97 



pluck were undeniable, and it was a rare sight to see him and 

 his rider hurl themselves into a ten-foot hedge and kick and 

 struggle till they forced a passage. When let out at a boar, 

 the pony thoroughly entered into the sport ; and, thanks to 

 his speed and game running, his owner frequently carried off 

 the spear. 



Old boars are often very cunning, and will hang back in 

 a thicket when the rest of the sounder breaks, stealing 

 quietly off when the field is in hot pursuit of some of the 

 smaller pigs. As a rule, they do not give so fast a run as a 

 young boar or a long-legged sow ; but when brought to bay 

 they are awkward customers, and frequently leave their mark 

 on their pursuers. Our beaters were ripped on several occa- 

 sions, but fortunately the wounds were not severe, and were 

 confined to the legs. . The cut of a boar's tusk is peculiar, and 

 is generally of the form of the letter L, like a tear in woollen 

 cloth. Although, when charging, they come on with savage 

 grunts, they seldom cry out when speared ; and a pig who 

 dies with a squeal is generally regarded as an ignoble beast, 

 having in his veins the blood of domestic ancestors. 



I remember a joke played off on a man whose deeds in 

 the saddle were not supposed to lose aught of their import- 

 ance by his own description of them. Some youngsters of the 

 cantonment, having purchased a village pig, had been in the 

 habit of sending it out for a mile or two in a cart, and hunting 

 it home with long bamboos. By this course of training, the 

 piggy acquired wind and some degree of speed. At length, 

 on a day appointed, he was taken out and secured by the leg 

 in the covert. The usual party, with the addition of the 

 mighty hunter, were assembled at the mess tiffin, when a 

 native came up and reported a fine boar marked down. 

 Horses and spears were called for, and, with the guide in 



H 



