XVII 
THE BOAR 
21 
I give the exact measurement of this blade, as it 
performed several curious feats during the period of 
active service. When sharpened to as keen a point 
and edge as could be obtained, this highly tempered 
steel would pierce a hole right through one of the 
old rim pennies, and would cut the same coin into 
two halves, when placed upon a block of oak, 
without in the least degree either turning the point 
or damaging the edge. It will of course withstand 
the same test at the present moment. 
This was the perfection of a weapon for the 
purpose required; it was the companion of every 
hunt where no fire - arms were permitted, and, 
whatever the game might be that was discovered by 
the pack, it was brought to bay and killed by the 
hounds and hunting-knife. Sometimes it might be 
a sambur deer, which was the recognised object of 
pursuit ; at other times it might be the small red- 
deer ; frequently a wild boar ; and sometimes, but 
rarely, a buffalo, which many years before had 
deserted from its owner and run wild among the 
forests of the Ceylon Highlands. 
As I class the pig with the pachydermata, which 
will be concluded in this chapter, I introduce the 
hunting-knife as closely connected with hunts that 
will be continued with the deer ( Cervidce ), as the 
experience of such animals was almost identical in 
the same period and locality. It may readily be 
understood, from my detailed description of the 
weapon, that such a knife, in the hand of any person 
who knew how to use it, would have been nearly as 
