THE WILD HOG. 405 



retreat, when, as they issue forth, terrified by shouts and 

 clamour, they are killed by fire-arms and spears. 



But the most animating accounts we possess of the modern 

 hunting of the Wild Boar are from our countrymen in the 

 East, where the gallantry and address of the youthful hunters 

 may perhaps console us for the shedding of the blood of ani- 

 mals so unoffending, and so brave in their own defence. The 

 Hogs inhabit the thick jungles of the country, which men 

 and horses cannot penetrate ; but often they quit these im- 

 penetrable coverts, either driven by the periodical firing of 

 the jungle-grass, or proceeding in search of food into the 

 plantations of sugar-canes, and the fields of rice, or of rhur 

 (a kind of legume, growing from four to six feet high), which 

 are often of great extent, or into the patches of long grasses, 

 several feet high, which are found in these countries of rich 

 vegetation. In such cases the game is to be dislodged, which, 

 in the cane plantations, is done by numerous natives with 

 staves or poles, drums, and other instruments, marching in 

 lines ; and in other cases by the huntsmen themselves, on 

 horseback, entering with their attendants the ground where 

 the quarry is supposed to lodge. Elephants are likewise 

 employed in this sport, in which Tigers may be dislodged 

 from their retreats. The Hog, being forced from his cover, 

 is followed by several horsemen with spears, which they use 

 in the manner of javelins. They pursue the animal at speed 

 as he makes his way to the nearest cover, darting their spears 

 into his body as they come up to him. " Those horsemen," 

 says Captain Williamson, " who are posted at the nearest 

 corners, should gallop round to watch for the Hog passing 

 on, and giving the halloo, should dash at him at full speed, 

 spearing as they come up. Some Hogs, however, are aware 

 of the scheme, having been hunted before : many may be 

 seen with large scars, evidently the result of wounds received 

 on former occasions ; and such 'are extremely difficult to deal 

 with. They will break the line repeatedly, ripping all they 

 meet, arid eventually creating such terror as effectually to 



