188 THE WILD HOG. 



bayons and swamps which surrounded his lonely wig- 

 wam, he determined to invite half-a-dozen hunters to 

 assist him in killing down this stock, which he had 

 decided to convert into pickled pork. The dollars 

 to be made from the sale he expected to find very 

 useful to help him in reaching California. 



On the appointed morning, well-mounted and armed 

 with smooth-bores, rifles, and Colt's revolvers, we found 

 ourselves starting for the lagoons, amongst the reeds 

 and flasks of which the hoo-s harboured, and where 

 they frequently fell a prey to alligators. Upon reach- 

 ing the first reed-bed we fired it, and as the flame 

 drove out the hogs, we shot them as they tried to gain 

 the nearest shelter. 



For more than a fortnight we continued this work, 

 each day killing as many of the animals as were fit 

 for the purpose in the forenoon, and afterwards, 

 assisted by seven or eight negroes, we cleaned and 

 salted the pork. Each day, too, the cover became 

 scarcer and scarcer, till at length only one tangled 

 reed-bed w^as left to be burned, and in this were con- 

 cealed some of the oldest and fiercest boars. 



The old hunter, whose name was Grreen, warned us 

 that we had better look out for these old fellows ; for 

 not only was the ground rotten and fetlock-deep in 

 mud, but the boars were, as he expressed it, ' some 

 considerably riled ' at the incessant persecution and 

 disturbance to which they had of late been subjected. 



