792 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL MIST^ SOCIETY, Vol. XXII 



them is doing this the other goes through Hhe same performance and 

 both charge together as hard as they can. The grunting takes place at 

 this time of the real hard tussle. It seems that as long as both heads are 

 held high enough and that neither of the fighters- gives a broadside or flank 

 chance at the other, very little damage will occur. Once, one of them got his 

 snout under the chest of the other and lifted it with incredible speed, the 

 other gave him repeated cuts on the top of the shoulder and made him 

 back a little then had a chance at the side and went at him with all his 

 power, both very nearly rolled over, but, after a short contest — diflicult to 

 see in the dust — both brutes were looking at each other about a yard apart 

 munching rapidly but none the worse. As far as. I could see they never 

 try a direct vertical toss, but always a slanting upwards broadside cut. 

 The shape of the tusks and their position makes this last cut the only 

 effective one. I carefully observe the cuts on boars when I kill any, and 

 the scars are always the same ; some may be seen at the end of the lower 

 jaw near the neck, but much oftener on the shoulder and ribs. I never saw 

 but one further back than the flanks. These cuts are rarely more than 

 four or five inches long and generally only two. It is common to see old 

 boars with a few healed scars about, and, I believe, that they fight very 

 often if two of them of about the same size are discussing family ques- 

 tions ; but a small one will never stand the charge of a bigger one and to 

 drive him away the big one has only to rise on tip toes with the quivering 

 motion of the legs announcing the charge. Sometimes a big chap feeding 

 will make a short charge at a little one who never waits for him but runs 

 ■away a short distance at once. 



It is easy to see that the big one does not mean more than that, because 

 his charge is not made with a will, and, being heavier, even if he wanted to 

 catch the other, he could not manage it. When turning sharp it seems to 

 me that they fix firmly their fore legs on the ground and swing the hind 

 quarters round. Given the weight of the shoulders it is very logical, 

 because the heavy part of the body acts as a pivot for the lighter part. But 

 all these moves are well known to pigsticking people, who do not ignore 

 that a boar at full gallop can turn sharp on its fore legs and jump or rear 

 right up to the level of the saddle. 



I did not see the end of the fight described above, because it was finally 

 icarried on in the jungle ; but I was very much astonished on the morrow to 

 find hardly a drop of blood on the ground. Animals are proportioned to 

 their natural means of attack and do not injure each other half as much as 

 we believe. Even a rhinoceros can dig at another with all its power without 

 making much impression on him. It is necessary that it should be so. 

 If wild boars, rhinoceroses and the like could injure each other, as they can 

 do animals of different species there would not be many left. 



Another time, in Assam, I saw two boars fighting. It was early morning 

 in a burnt place and not far from my camp. It was about two hundred 

 yards away and did not last more than a minute in sight of me. As far as 

 I could see it was the exact repetition of my Algerian experience. 



Again in the Caucasus I saw two large boars fighting. It was in the dim 

 light of sunset and about eighty yards from us. They came out of the forest 

 at full gallop, one chasing the other which was dodging like a hare and all at 

 once wheeled on his fore legs to wait for him. Then both reared against 

 each other grunting and began just the same sort of thing which I had 

 seen in Algeria. 



In Somaliland I got a glimpse of War't Hogs fighting, but too far to see 

 them properly. The grass being about two feet high at this place, all I 

 could see was from time to time the two Wart Hogs rearing and even 

 Jumping high up against each other, but when they were on the ground, 



