A HOG-HUNT. 
21 
which has no doubt given rise to the Sevigne now 
almost universally worn by European ladies. The 
most unpleasant part of the nautch is the dissonant 
music with which it is accompanied, and in which the 
dancers themselves every now and then join with 
voices as shrill and unmusical as the note of the pea- 
cock. 
There is little variety in an entertainment of this 
kind in India. The guests,, one and alb squat upon 
the floor, form themselves into groups, chatter with 
the most vehement energy of action, or gaze at the 
dancers, whom they applaud with an animation that 
frequently drowns the very drums and viols supposed 
to add such a charm to their favourite amusement. 
In compliance with the pressing courtesy of our host, 
we remained until his guests began to separate, ac- 
cepting an invitation to join him in a hog-hunt on 
the following day. He had a good stud of horses, 
from which he promised that we should be well 
mounted ; and we accordingly took our leave, with 
an assurance that we would meet him the next morn- 
ing by sunrise. 
Shortly after daylight we were mounted and in the 
field. The sport, for the first two hours, was very 
tedious and uninteresting, as we saw no game ; and 
I began to think of returning home, when a hog was 
started from a patch of sugar-cane, and advancing in 
a diagonal direction across the plain, was pursued by 
at least a score of horsemen. I was mounted upon 
a bony country horse, which did not appear to have 
been much accustomed to the pressure of a European 
saddle, as it would frequently stop when on the 
