THE WILD EOAE. 23 



will tolerate no one there but himself. It is his way of 

 saying, " I am here, so be off ! " 



Thus he is a bully, in the full sense of the word ; but 

 withal no coward not^\T.thstanding. If you have an 

 opportunity of witnessing how unflinchingly he faces his 

 enemy, and how bravely he meets death, you \vill forget 

 his bullying, and admire, nay respect, his courage. 

 Peculiar circumstances once enabled me to share in 

 such a contest. A large boar had been wounded, and 

 retreated to a dense covert. We tracked, and at last 

 came up mth him, concealed among some thick busher. 

 How he was wounded we did not know ; if dangerously 

 or but slightly only. Three strong dogs surrounded the 

 bush, yelling furiously. They saw him as he sat -within, 

 but could not and dared not approach. The forest rang 

 with their barkings. They at last got nearer, but could 

 do little ; and the boar knowing the advantage of his 

 position, was not to be forced from it. He was so 

 hidden by the dense branches of the young firs that, 

 even had the dogs not been near him, it was impossible 

 to fire. 



Thinking there might be an opening sufficient to get a 

 view of him, and so have a shot at a favourable moment 

 when the dos'S were on one side, I lay down at full 

 length on the snow, and peered into the hollow of dark 

 boughs. There sat the sturdy animal of formidable 

 size. His jaws were covered with blood and foam, and 



G 4 



