44 SPORT IN BENGAL. 



country is good for riding. Some who have tasted the plea- 

 sures of both, may give the preference to fox-hunting, but 

 probably the majority will award the first place to hog-hunting 

 on the grass-covered plains and river " churs " of Bengal, 

 if they have enjoyed that glorious sport under its " best 

 conditions." 



Wanting in the gay show and the brilliant adjuncts of a 

 grand meet in a first class fox-hunting county, " pig-sticking " 

 must have its claim to superiority as a manly sport, in the 

 fact of its being a well matched contest between an armed 

 and mounted man, and a brave, fleet, powerful and savage 

 beast. Unlike the mise en scene of a hunting-field in 

 England, Indian hog-hunting offers little to dazzle the eye or 

 excite the imagination. In place of scores of scarlet-coated 

 men on splendid steeds, surrounded by numbers of handsome 

 equipages, and all the accompaniments of wealth and luxury, 

 the hog-hunting meet is a poor exhibition indeed. Three or 

 four hunters armed with spears, and dressed in sombre, and 

 not rarely, unbecoming style, appear at the jungle side, upon 

 Arab, Australian, or country-bred horses, which would hardly 

 pass muster on the English hunting-field ; the accoutrements 

 are plain, and often not as clean and smart as they should be, 

 but nevertheless, are business-like and effective ; hounds and 

 their attendants are altogether absent, but instead there may 

 be a dozen elephants or a few score of almost nude beaters 

 to drive the coverts, and the tout ensemble is by no means 

 imposing on ordinary occasions ; but when a fine boar with 

 flashing tusks, and a bristling crest breaks cover to strive 

 for victory with a solitary hunter over a rough and grass- 

 covered plain, the contest which follows is worthy of 

 manhood. 



Hog-hunting with the Calcutta Tent Club five-and-twenty 

 years ago was a princely sport. The Club consisted of twelve 

 members, residents of that city of well, palaces ; men who 

 used to take out with them from three to five or six horses, 

 the best hunters to be got for money. The camp equipage, 

 the cuisine, and the wines were always of the best, and the 



