THE LARGE GAME OF SPAIN AND rORTUOAL. 143 



only by his dogs, seeks the bear amidst the recesses of the 

 sierra, and engages him in single combat. His equipment con- 

 sists of a broad-l)laded hnuting-knife and a double dagger, 

 each of whose triangular blades fits into a central handle. 



By less vigorous sportsmen, bear-hunting is carried on by 

 calling into requisition a large number of men and dogs— 

 usually with the assistance of the oseros, and l)y the more dis- 

 creet use of fire-arms, vice cold steel. 



The Tieighbourhood of Madrid was once described as " buen 

 monte de puerco y oso " (good country for pig and bear), and the 

 city itself as "la coronada villa del oso y madrono ; " but bears no 

 longer exist in either of the Castiles. The small Hormigiiero is 

 confined to the Asturias : the larger beast is also fairly common 

 there, and not rare in Navarre, Arragon, and, jiossibly, Catalonia. 



Wild Boar {Sus scrofa). 



Spanish : Javato, Javali. 



The wild boar has always abounded in Spain, and its chase 

 ever held a chief place among Spanish sports — in olden times 

 on horseback with pike and lance. During the middle ages the 

 pursuit of falconry took such hold upon the national taste, that 

 the pigs were almost forgotten, and towards the close of the 

 fifteenth century they became a positive scourge, devastating the 

 crops and invading the outlying portions even of great cities. 

 With the Eenaissance came the apjjlication of science to sport- 

 ing weapons ; and, with gunpowder substituted for cold steel, 

 the boar had a bad time of it ; he was shot down as he rushed 

 from his thicket-lair, or assassinated as he took his nocturnal 

 rambles. 



In Estremadura the favourite chasse an sanglier is still with 

 horse and hound. Diu-ing the stillness of a moonlight night, 

 when the acorns are falling from the oaks in the magnificent 

 Estremenian woods, a party of horsemen assemble to await the 

 boars, which at night descend from the mountains to feed. 

 Then a trained hound, termed the maestro, which throws tongue 

 only to pig, is slipped : should he siicceed in bringing a tusker 

 to bay, a dozen strong dogs, half-bred mastiffs, are despatched 

 to his assistance. Off they rush like demons, to the challenge 

 of the maestro, followed by the horsemen, and there ensues a 

 break-neck ride and a struggle with a grizzly tusker in the 



