220 WILD LIFE IN CHINA. 



nexion, however, I prefer to condense a graphic account of 

 a pig-shooting incident in the career of a well known Shang- 

 hai resident in the 'seventies and 'eighties, Mr. W.S. Percival, 

 of H.M. Civil Service. His book, which contains the story, 

 was published in 1889 under the title of "The Land of the 

 Dragon." It was on one of the hills near Chinkiang he 

 says "that I bagged the largest pig I ever saw." "It was a 

 near thing, for he nearly bagged me instead." The pig had 

 been lying up amongst the tangled scrub on the side of the 

 hill whence it was turned out by the commotion caused by 

 four beaters whom Mr. Percival had with him. "One of these 

 suddenly called out, 'Yah-chue' ! and a huge pig crashed 

 through the scrub and trotted along the narrow path in front 

 of me. I had a heavy twelve-gauge double rifle weighing 

 close on to 12 Ib. and throwing two-ounce flat-headed conical 

 balls, propelled by six and a half drams of the best rifle 

 powder. Some twenty yards in front of me was the monster, 

 the largest I have ever seen : a splendid driving shot, and I 

 knew there was quite sufficient power in the gun to rake him 

 from stern to stem. It was too easy a shot, and I suppose 

 I was careless over it, for a worse shot I never made. The 

 ball struck him five inches higher than I intended, ran along 

 the spine, tearing the skin along the back and cutting away 

 the half of one of his ears, inflicting a mere scratch that did 

 not in the least disable him." Naturally the boar wheeled 

 and charged, and there was a very good chance for proceed- 

 ings on the morrow in which H.M.'s Consul would act as 

 coroner. There was no time to re-load. "As the boar passed 

 he made a most vigorous dig with his tusks, bu-t the instant 

 before he made his thrust I had sprung on one side off the 

 track into the scrub, and as he passed he just grazed me 

 near the thigh. His impetus carried him three yards farther 

 before he quite realized he had missed : then he came round 

 again for another charge, but as he exposed his broadside, 

 I planted the second ball at not more than six feet distance 

 well behind the shoulder. He stopped instantly, favoured 

 me with another of his wicked glances : then, slowly his 

 head dropped, and he fell over on his side and died. We 

 gralloched him, slung him over a bamboo, and sent him with 

 four coolies down to Chinkiang, where we afterwards heard 

 that he turned the scales at 510 Ib. His tusks, which were 

 in perfect condition, were six and a half inches long." 



It will be seen from this account which is quite reliable, 

 Mr. Percival being well known not only to the present writer 

 but to hundreds of others on the China coast, that the wild 

 boar of China, whatever his classical honours, surpasses 

 both his Indian and European relatives considerably in 

 weight. The extreme weight of Sz/s scrofa of Europe is but 



