WILD PIGS— ANIMAL AND HUMAN 243 



suppose the natives have become somewhat immune to 

 its effects. 



Our destination was a tiny village in the mountains 

 about eight miles beyond Ho-shun, a city of consid- 

 erable size in the very center of the province. Tai- 

 yuan-fu, the capital, at the end of the railway, is a 

 famous place for pigs; but they have been hunted so 

 persistently in recent years that few remain within less 

 than two or three days' journey from the city. 



It was a three days' trip from the railroad to Ho- 

 shun, and there was little of interest to distinguish the 

 road from any other in north China. It is always 

 monotonous to travel with pack animals or carts, for 

 they go so slowly that you can make only two or three 

 miles an hour, at best. If there happens to be shoot- 

 ing along the way, as there is in most parts of Shansi, 

 it helps to pass the time. We picked up a few pheas- 

 ants, some chuckars, and a dozen pigeons, but did not 

 stop to do any real hunting until we entered a wooded 

 valley and established ourselves in a fairly comfortable 

 Chinese hut at the little village of Kao-chia-chuang. On 

 the way in we met a party of Christian Brother mis- 

 sionaries who had been hunting in the vicinity for five 

 days. They had seen ten or twelve pigs and had killed 

 a splendid boar weighing about three hundred and fifty 

 pounds as well as two roebuck. 



The mountains near the village had been so thor- 

 oughly hunted that there was little chance of finding 

 pigs, but nevertheless we decided to stay for a day or 

 two. I killed a two-year-old roebuck on the first after- 



