Serrania de Ronda 36^ 



between the '■ ri^i^lits of lamilie.s " iuid their insane rehitions (or those 

 whom they may consider such) are easy to conceive. 



The first covert tried was a strong jungle flanking the main gorge, l)Ut 

 this and a second beat proved blank, though two roebuck broke back. 

 The third drive comi)rised the main mancha-s, or thickets, of the Boca de 

 la Foz, and to this we ascended on foot, leaving the horses jiicketed 

 behind. Our four guns occupied the rim of a natural amphitheatre 

 which dipped sharply away some 1500 feet beneath us, the centre 

 choked with brushwood — lentisk, arbutus, and thorn — 20 i'eet deep. 

 On our left towered a perpendicular block of limestone cliffs, the right 

 flank of the jungle being bordered by a series of up-tilted rock-stvata, 

 white as marble and resembling a ruined street. 



Ten minutes of profound silence, not a sound save the distant tinkle 

 of a goat-bell, or the song of that feathered recluse, the blue rock-thrush 

 (in Spanish, Solitario), then the distant cries of the beaters in the depths 

 below told us the fray had begun. 



Another ten minutes' suspense. Then a crash of hound-music pro- 

 claimed that the quarry was at home. This boar proved to l)e one of 

 certain grizzly monsters of which we were specially in search, his lair a 

 jumble of boulders islanded amid thickest jungle. Here he held his 

 ground, declining to recognise in canine aggressors a superior force. 

 Two boar-hounds reinforced the skirmishers of the pack, yet the old 

 tusker stood firm. For minutes that seemed like hours the conflict raged 

 stationary : the sonorous baying of the boar-hounds, the " yapping " of 

 the smaller dogs, and shouts of mountaineers blended with the howl of an 

 incautious -podenco as he received a death-rip — all formed a chorus of 

 sounds that carried their exciting story to tiie sentinel guns above. 



The seat of war being near half-a-mile away, no immediate issue was 

 expected. Then there occurred one crash of bush, and a second boar 

 dashed straight for the pass where the writer barred the way. The 

 suddenness of the encounter disconcerted, and the first shot missed — the 

 bullet splashing on a grey rock just above — time barely remained to jump 

 aside and avoid collision. The left barrel got home : a stumble and a 

 savage grunt as an ounce of lead penetrated his vitals, and the boar 

 plunged headlong, his life-blood dyeing the weather-blanched rocks and 

 green palmetto. For a moment he lay, but ere cohl steel could administer 

 a quietus, he had regained his feet and dashed back. Whether revenge 

 prompted that move or it was merely an effort to regain the covert 

 he had just left, we know not — a third bullet laid him lifeless. 



During this interlude (tiiough it only occupied five seconds) the main 

 combat below reached its climax. The old boar had left his stronghold, 

 and after sundry sullen stands and promiscuous skirmishes (during which 

 a second podenco died), he nuide for the heights. Showing first on the 

 centre, he was covered for a moment by a "450 Express; but, not 

 breaking covert, no shot could be lired, and when next viewed the boar 



