CHAPTER IX 



PIG-STICKING IN BENGAL 



By MALCOLM M. CRAWFORD, Esq., of Shikarpore. 



BEFORE pig-sticking started, sportsmen in Bengal 

 used to hunt bear with a short, heavy javelin, which 

 they threw from horseback. As bear grew scarcer 

 they turned their attention to boar, but they soon 

 found that a javelin thrown by hand was a poor 

 defence against a charging boar. 



The short spear, weighted with lead at one end, 

 commonly used in Bengal, was evolved from the 

 light throwing javelin. At first the spear measured 

 about 7 feet in length, but it has now become 

 gradually shortened to 5 feet 9 inches and 6 feet 

 3 inches. Most men have their own ideas as to 

 spear heads, the Diamond and Simson patterns 

 being the general favourites, though the Bayleaf 

 and an occasional Bodraj are also used. A narrow 

 head is to be avoided, as, unless the head is broader 

 than the shaft, it is difficult to give a heavy wound. 

 The inside shoulders of the head should be sharpened 

 so as to enable the spear to cut its way out. The 

 Bengal spear, as all pig-stickers know, is used over- 

 hand, the hand grasping the shaft a few inches 

 below the lead, and the head pointing downwards 

 and outwards below the rider's stirrup. In the 



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