"OF all the animals in India killed by me," writes a celebrated hunter, "the tiger, wild elephant, buffalo, bison, bear, boar, panther, and leopard, not one has ever made good his charge against

the deadly bullets of my heavy rifles, or against the spear, save the wild boar and panther. . . . I consider hog-hunting to be the finest sport in the world."

It is the renowned Captain Shakespeare who makes the above declaration, and many other equally credible persons endorse his opinion. It is well that it is so, for undoubtedly contemplation of the domestic hog, gluttonous, fat, and sleepy, is calculated to impress one with the notion that of all animals to be hunted he is the very last. What trace is there of thundering speed, eyes savage as those of a trapped tiger, and glowing as red-hot charcoal, of strength to rush beneath the horse's belly and bear him, with the hunter on his back, sheer off his legs; or of the terrible nine-inch-long tusk, which,

entering the steed's flank, would plough a deep gory rut, ending only at the shoulder-bone-what trace is there of all this, in the meek sow, affectionately cuddling her litter of tiny squeakers, or grunting her gratitude to Roger who replenishes her trough, and rolling her little eyes with delicious languor as the worthy young wash-bearer, leaning dreamily over the wicket, scratches her back? Nevertheless it can not be doubted that the ancestors of this gentle, bacon-fated beast roared in British forests when Britons all were hunters, and their daily labor, and that on which the bread of their children depended, the fashioning of spears and the wielding of them, and the manufacture of flint-hatchets and the digging of wolf-pits.

The form of the boar is so familiar to every one that to enter into details respecting its structure would be mere waste of valuable space. True, there is a difference between the appearance of the wild and domesticated creature, but it consists chiefly, if not entirely, in the bristles of the wild fellow being longer and coarser than his cultivated brother, in his eye being more restless and fiery, in his hide encompassing a mass of muscles and sinew instead of juicy fat and lean, in his shape being more lithe and active, and last, though by no means least, in the development of his tremendous tusks.

HOW HE IS HUNTED.

IN various parts of Europe the boar still roams at large-in parts of France, and in considerable numbers in the interminable forests. of Germany-but little or nothing is done in boar hunting. India is the great field for this sport, and the animals there found are certainly the largest and most formidable of any in the world. He roams the jungle, fearing not even the terrible tiger—crops his dinner at the verge of the auburn-striped monster's lair, and comes down with him to the pool to slake his thirst; yet that no affection exists between them is certain, from the fact that now and then sportsmen come across boars and tigers dead, the latter bearing marks of the wild pig's tremendous tusks. Even that terribly courageous member of the feline tribe, the panther, the wild boar holds in light estimation, and will not budge an inch from his path for the greatest vixen of this genus the jungle contains. At Morinnabad, on one occasion, a large boar was observed with his back to a tree, bayed by four full-grown panthers. They, however, were afraid to commence the attack, and toward night-fall two of them sheered off,

whereon the boar made a dash at the remaining two, and then trotted home, sound and unpursued.

Boar hunting in India is always conducted on horseback, and the chief weapon employed is the spear. Different sorts of spears, however, are in favor in the various provinces. The Bengal hunter uses a spear not more than six and a half feet long, the shaft being of bamboo, weighted with lead at the upper end, and with a broad and stout blade. It is not used lance-wise, but held firmly in the hand in such a way that the point projects about a foot and a half before the stirrup-iron, so that when the boar charges, the horse is dexterously swerved aside, and the animal runs on the spear. This is known as the "jobbing" spear. In Bombay and Hyderabad the weapon. runs from eight to ten feet in length, and is much lighter than the "jobber." This long light spear is carried "under-hand." "The secret of riding a wild hog," says a hunter of twenty-five years' experience, "is to ride as close to him as you can, keeping him on the spear or right hand of you. You must be able to turn your horse with the hog; and, therefore, the horse must always be in hand. In short, when the hog flags in speed, the hunter must be ready to make his horse spring upon him, so to speak. The spear then goes through the foe; and if the hog charges at the time, the increased impetus of two bodies meeting at such speed generally drives the spear through from end to end. It is a good plan, when you are afraid of losing your hog among bushes and grass, to deliver a spear in him; it hampers his movements, and he can not conceal himself in the jungle."

A thoroughly trained horse is essential to successful boar hunting. Wherever a hog will go-even when hard pressed-there should the steed follow, up steep hills, down sudden slopes, over bushes, and along the face of rocks at an angle of forty degrees, and more slippery than metropolitan wood-paving in foggy weather. It is possible, however, to have too clever and impetuous a horse. Captain Shakespeare had one such; without spur or encouragement it would follow the boar into the most impracticable places; when the boar leaped a rock, the horse leaped too, exactly as the chase went. When it is considered that, when hard run, the boar has been known to tuck in his feet and fling himself over a bank fifteen feet deep, falling on his chest and up and off again in an instant, the disadvantage of mounting a horse who hunts boars for his own amusement will be apparent.

Speaking of the animal above mentioned, Captain Shakespeare says:

"I bought him at auction, at Hyderabad, for a hundred rupeesabout nine pounds-and as for courage, I believe he would have faced a tiger. On one occasion I had a long and severe run over rocks and grass after a wild sow which, on the second time of being speared, ran up the spear and fixed on the chest of this horse. He never moved for some time, till at length, I suppose, being convinced that I couldn't get the hog off him, he swung suddenly round, and the sow being a large tall one, this movement brought her alongside of him, when he lashed at her with his hind-legs till she was disengaged."

As in Indian boar hunting there is generally as much racing as fighting, and the hunter's valor goes for nought unless he possesses such facilities as will make him more than a match for the fleet, tusked monster, a fast horse is indispensable. "At his first burst, the Indian boar will run away from the fleetest Arab racer." Therefore, care is taken to give the horse every possible advantage. It generally happens that the pasture-ground selected by the cunning boar is situated a long distance-ten, twenty, even thirty miles-from his stronghold. Setting out in the evening, he goes at a steady pace and reaches his feeding-place about the middle of the night; here he gorges, as only hogs wild and tame can gorge, sugar-cane or such other food as he fancies, and, strolling off, reaches home before day-light. This is

the time to hunt him. He is full, tired, and sleepy, and altogether incapable of running his fastest. Indeed, it may take a great gang of natives with the tom-toms, bells, cymbals, horns, and other implements of hideous Indian music to rouse him from his covert, and roused he must be, for to penetrate to his sanctum afoot-however perfectly armed-would be an act almost of suicide, and if a jury of grey-headed hog-hunters sat on such a body, their undoubted verdict would be "temporary insanity." When roused, however, the boar will make the best running he can, and here the hunter's horse has the advantage, for his master has taken care, after he has had his supper overnight, to put a muzzle over his mouth, and he is led out in the morning empty and light, and in a condition to go at the fastest pace he is capable of. The hunter's great aim is to "blow" his formidable game at the first burst and bring him to bay, well knowing that if he allows the boar to keep the lead till he recovers his wind, his hungry horse will flag and droop his ears while the game with his tail erect is still at a hard gallop.

The authority quoted at the commencement of this chapter relates an adventure that occurred to him while hunting in the Deccan, and which amply illustrates the high place the boar deserves in the list of wild animals worthy of chase, as well as its pluck and marvelous tenacity of life.

While beating the sugar-canes for wild hogs, a few miles from Hingolee, a villager came up, and after inquiring what the Captain was hunting for, remarked, "If you want to see a hog, come with me and I will show you one;" and leading the way over the brow of a hill, pointed out an object in a field below that "in the mist of the morning appeared like a large blue rock-much too large for a hog." However, the "object" presently got on its legs, and dissipated any doubt existing as to its character. About a hundred yards distant from the animal was a fissure in the hills, thickly wooded, and here, no doubt, was the boar's lair, and if he took alarm and rushed thither it would be next to impossible to dislodge him. A savage boar in his stronghold is as difficult to oust as the grizzly bear from his winter cave in the Rocky Mountains. He constantly rushes out, knocks over and gores the beaters nearest the mouth of his retreat, and then skips back again before there is the shadow of a chance of spearing him.

All this Captain Shakespeare well knew, and thinking it possible that the boar might not run, he galloped round the field and placed himself between the boar and his retreat, and there waited with his