244 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



noon; and the next morning, while Smith and I were 

 resting on a mountain trail, one of our men saw an 

 enormous wild boar trot across an open ridge and dis- 

 appear into a heavily forested ravine. I selected a post 

 on a projecting shoulder, while one Chinese went with 

 Smith to pick up the trail of the pig. There were so 

 many avenues of escape open to the boar that I had to 

 remain where it was possible to watch a large expanse 

 of country. 



Smith had not yet reached the bottom of the ravine 

 when the native who had remained with me suddenly 

 began to gesticulate wildly and to point to a wooded 

 slope directly in front of us. He hopped about like 

 a man who has suddenly lost his mind and succeeded in 

 keeping in front of me so that I could see nothing but 

 his waving arms and writhing body. Finally seizing 

 him by the collar, I threw him to the ground so vio- 

 lently that he realized his place was behind me. Then 

 I saw the pig running along a narrow trail, silhouetted 

 against the snow which lay thinly on the shaded side of 

 the hill. 



He was easily three hundred and fifty yards away 

 and I had little hope of hitting him, but I selected an 

 open patch beyond a bit of cover and fired as he 

 emerged. The boar squealed and plunged forward 

 into the bushes. A moment later he reappeared, zig- 

 zagging his way up the slope and only visible through 

 the trees when he crossed a patch of snow. I emptied 

 the magazine of my rifle in a futile bombardment, but 

 the boar crossed the summit and disappeared. 



