CHAPTER XIII. 



THE INDIAN WILD BOAR. 



Sus Indicus. 

 Generally throughout India — Si'ir — Bad—Baneld. 



The Wild Boar appears to be distributed over nearly the whole of the old world, 

 varying only slightly in different countries. In India it is found almost everywhere 

 throughout the plains, and also in the hills to a great elevation. It is most numerous 

 in the belt of forest commonly called the Terai, at the foot of the Himalayas. 



The Wild Boar varies much in size, according principally to the nature of the 

 country he inhabits ; those found in the lower ranges of the hills are generally the largest. 

 The biggest I ever saw was in the Patli Doon, one of those valleys which lie among the 

 spurs of the Himalayas. I was hunting for Elephants when this Boar suddenly got up 

 under a bush, within twenty yards, and quietly stood watching me. I did not fire, at him, 

 and he walked leisurely off, looking very much as if he wanted but slight provocation to 

 induce him to charge. He was an enormous brute, and I wished that I had him on an 

 open plain, where, with a good horse and a spear, we might have had a fair fight. I 

 believe thirty-nine or forty inches is about the greatest height to which the Boar grows, but 

 they vary very much in bulk, some being lean and lanky, others fat and heavy. The 

 color also varies a good deal from nearly jet black to a reddish hue.. 



The tusks of the Boar are most formidable instruments ; they are as sharp as razors, 

 and protrude nearly three inches from the jaw of a large Boar, the total length of whose tusk 

 may be as much as nine inches, two-thirds being imbedded in the jaw. 



The Sow is considerably smaller than the Boar, and has merely the rudiments of 

 tusks ; she is, however, more active, and is sufficiently formidably armed to be a very 

 dangerous opponent. 



In the hills, the Wild Boar lives in any thick jungle he can find, often in the vicinity 

 of villages, on whose crops he nightly levies tribute. In the plains, the Pig delights in 

 o-rass jungle, in beds of reeds in the vicinity of water, and above all in sugar-cane. If the 

 latter is not in sufficient quantity to afford good cover, Pig will live in the nearest jungle 

 and pay nocturnal visits to the sugar, of which they destroy an immense quantity ; they 

 will often travel many miles in search of their favorite food. Frequently, however, an old 

 Boar will take up his abode in the cane, and will not leave it, attacking every one who 

 ventures to disturb him. 



