336 SPORT IN BENGAL. 



more than probable that if a pack of these animals come 

 upon the carcase of a deer slain by a tiger, it will endeavour 

 to obtain possession of the prey of the royal beast by a joint 

 onslaught upon him if urged thereto by extreme hunger, 

 or at least it will drive him away by persistent and well- 

 sustained bayings and skirmishing attacks. Should a tiger 

 attempt to deprive a successful pack of its lawful prize, I 

 feel sure he would have to make a fight to attain his object, 

 and might under such circumstances succumb to the anger 

 and outraged feelings of numbers. Having witnessed the 

 retreat of a tiger before the pertinacious worrying of my own 

 " bobbery -pack/ 5 I am less incredulous of the native asser- 

 tions than otherwise I might be ; but if the brindled tyrant 

 is ever destroyed by such comparatively insignificant foes, the 

 latter must pay dearly for the victory, for at every stroke 

 dealt by the former, one at least must bite the dust, and if 

 even thirty or forty fall upon him at once, the slaughter 

 among them must be very great. 



A small creature, which has only of late years become 

 generally known, is the pigmy hog of the " Terai," and, I take 

 it, identical with the peccary of Central America, or at least 

 closely allied to it. It is rarely met with by shooting parties, 

 and I have myself seen but one in the wild state, and that 

 was in beating for rhinoceros and gayal with a line of ele- 

 phants along the borders of woods in the " Terai," close to the 

 base of the Himalayan foot-hills on the extreme northern 

 frontier of Goalpara, or peradventure even a little beyond it 

 in Bhootea territory. It cannot be properly designated a 

 game animal, except by those who, having tasted its flesh 

 with approval, choose so to dignify it. 



The two hares of Bengal, the common and the hispid, 

 call for no particular remarks. But for the unlimited num- 

 bers of beasts and reptiles which prey upon them, the former 

 would afford good sport in most districts, both in coursing 

 and shooting, as they actually do in some few ; but their 

 numbers being kept down by their countless enemies, they 

 are never plentiful anywhere in Bengal. The other is a 



