v RIDING A PIG 75 



The case of polo is simple. The finest game in 

 the world teaches obedience, discipline, organiza- 

 tion, unselfishness, nerve, riding, and quickness. 

 But does it necessarily teach a man good hands, 

 an eye for and a capacity for getting across a 

 country, a knowledge of the language and the 

 natives, and a capacity for fending for himself? 

 After all, one is a game, and the other a sport. 

 It is enough for the devotees of each to respect one 

 another. 



Polo is, except as regards tournaments, a cheaper 

 amusement than pig -sticking. There are no re- 

 curring expenses of meets and of transport, and 

 casualties are less. There is a far better chance of 

 recovering or making money on the sale of animals. 

 At present regiments are largely esteemed by their 

 polo. Ponies they must and will have. 



As regards hunting, I have written to several 

 of my friends who are as noticeably good to hounds 

 as I, personally, know them to be brilliant after 

 pig. With considerable trouble I have obtained 

 their consent to publishing their views. 



Mr. P. U. Allen, I.C.S., Commissioner of the 

 Lucknow Division adopts rather a non-committal 

 attitude : 



I think there is nothing on earth to beat the desperate 

 excitement of getting on terms with a big fighting pig, 

 before he makes his point, and then taking his charges until 

 he drops. When, after many years of pig-sticking, I spend 

 a winter hunting a big bank country in Ireland, it is an 

 intense enjoyment to me to apply my Indian experience 

 and try to take my own line. 



Pig-sticking and hunting have this one thing in common, 

 that they make you rise superior to the elements. Some 

 of the happiest days of my life have been spent under an 



