nlucky hen-partridge or quail. A whole village will turn out to
compass the destruction of some wretched sow that may have shewn her
bristles outside the jungle in the daytime.

In districts where cultivated land is scarce and population scattered,
it is almost impossible to enjoy pig-sticking. The breaks of open land
between the jungles are too small and narrow to afford galloping space,
and though you turn the pig out of one patch of jungle, he immediately
finds safe shelter in the next. On the banks of some of the large
rivers, however, such as the Gunduch and the Bagmuttee, there are vast
stretches of undulating sand, crossed at intervals by narrow creeks,
and spotted by patches of close, thick jungle. Here the grey tusker
takes up his abode with his harem. When once you turn him out from his
lair, there is grand hunting room before he can reach the distant patch
of jungle to which he directs his flight. In some parts the _jowah_ (a
plant not unlike broom in appearance) is so thick, that even the
elephants can scarcely force their way through, but as a rule the
beating is pretty easy, and one is almost sure of a find.

CHAPTER X.

Kuderent jungle.--Charged by a pig.--The biter bit.--'Mac' after the
big boar.--The horse for pig-sticking.--The line of beaters.--The boar
breaks.--'Away! Away!'--First spear.--Pig-sticking at Peeprah.--The
old 'lungra' or cripple.--A boar at bay.--Hurrah for pig-sticking!

There was a very fine pig jungle at a place called Kuderent, belonging
to a wealthy landowner who went by the name of the Mudhobunny Baboo. We
occasionally had a pig-sticking meet here, and as the jungle was
strictly preserved, we were never disappointed in finding plenty who
gave us glorious sport. The jungles consisted of great grass plains,
with thickly wooded patches of dense tree jungle, intersected here and
there by deep ravines, with stagnant pools of water at intervals; the
steep sides all thickly clothed with thorny clusters of the wild
dog-rose. It was a difficult country to beat, and we had always to
supplement the usual gang of beaters with as many elephants as we could
collect. In the centre of the jungle was an eminence of considerable
height, whence there was a magnificent view of the surrounding country.

Far in the distance the giant Himalayas towered into the still clear
air, the guardian barriers of an unknown land. The fretted pinnacles
and tremendous ridges, clothed in their pure white