A DESPERATE LEAP. 
23 
jungle on my left, upon the borders of which were se- 
veral patches of sugar-cane,, where it was evident 
some of the swinish multitude had been taking their 
meals, to the great annoyance of the proprietor of 
these saccharine plantations. I had not been long 
seated on this elevated spot, when I saw a boar, pur- 
sued by several sportsmen, making its way at full 
speed towards the precipice. The ground being very 
uneven, the horses scarcely gained upon the chase, and 
it appeared to have a fair chance of escape. On it 
sped, dashing over every inequality of the ground with 
heedless impetuosity. The shouts of its pursuers seem- 
ed to render it desperate ; for, nearing the edge of the 
precipice, it did not attempt to turn, but sprang head 
foremost over the brink like another Marcus Curtius, 
if one may venture to compare a hog to a heathen. 
The spring was so great, that it did not strike the 
ground until near midway down the precipice, where 
the face of the escarpment bulged outward. Upon this 
projection the boar pitched, and, like a newly-inflated 
football, bounded again into the empty air. After two 
or three similar bounds, sufficient to have broken 
the ribs of Phalaris’s brazen bull, had it been sub- 
mitted to a similar process of repercussion, the un- 
happy brute reached the bottom of the ravine, when, 
to my astonishment, it rolled over upon its legs, dart- 
ed into the thicket, as if its precipitous descent had 
been a mere pastime, and was out of sight in a few 
moments. I must confess I thought the bold beast 
deserved to escape, though it was a sad disappoint- 
ment to its pursuers. 
By this time my horse had been caught by one of 
