32 



WILD SPAIN. 



found ill a hopelessly wounded condition at the point of 

 the first conflict. 



The boar proved a magnificent brute, one of the true 

 grey-brindled type — de los Castellanos, weighing over 300 lbs. 

 The wild-boars of the sierras run larger than those of the 

 plains, some being said to reach 400 lbs. Beneath the 

 outer grizzly bristles lies a reddish woolly fur. 



We were soon mounted and steering for another manclia, 

 where, late in the afternoon, two sows and a small boar 

 were found and driven forward through the line of guns. 

 One fell to a fine shot from our host's brother, the others 

 escaping scathless. Night was already upon us ere the 

 party re-assembled, and we rode off amidst the shadows of 

 the forest-glades, to fight the battles of the day again and 

 again round the cheery blaze in the courtyard of our 

 mountain-home. 



