a guinea! Hold him, good lad! and away dashed
"Lucifer" from my side at the halloo.

In another moment I was close up, and with my knife ready I broke
through the dense jungle and was immediately in the open space cleared
by the struggles of the boar and pack. Unluckily, I had appeared full
in the boar's front, and though five or six of the large seizers had
got their holds, he made a sudden charge at me that shook them all off,
except "Bertram" and "Lena."

It was the work of an instant, as I jumped quickly on one side, and
instinctively made a downward cut at him in passing. He fell all of a
heap, to the complete astonishment of myself and the furious pack.

He was dead! killed by one blow with the hunting knife. I had struck
him across the back just behind the shoulders, and the wound was so
immense that he had the appearance of being nearly half divided. Not
only was the spine severed, but the blade had cut deep into his vitals
and produced instant death.

One of the dogs was hanging on his hind quarters when he charged, and
as the boar was rushing forward, the muscles of the back were
accordingly stretched tight, and thus the effect of the cut was
increased to this extraordinary degree. He was a middling-sized boar,
as near as I could guess, about two and a half hundredweight.

Fortunately, none of the pack were seriously hurt, although his tusks
were as sharp as a knife. This was owing to the short duration of the
fight, and also to the presence of so many seizers, who backed each
other up without delay.

There is no saying to what size a wild boar grows. I have never killed
them with the hounds above four hundredweight; but I have seen solitary
boars in the low country, that must have weighed nearly double.

I believe the flesh is very good; by the natives it is highly prized;
but I have so strong a prejudice against it from the sights I have seen
of their feasting upon putrid elephants that I never touch it.

The numbers of wild hogs in the low country is surprising, and these
are most useful in cleaning up the carcases of dead animals and
destroying vermin. I seldom or never fire at hog in those districts,
as their number is so great that there is no sport in shooting them.
They travel about in herds of one and two hundred, and even more.
These are composed of sows and young boars, as the latter leave the
herd when arrived at maturity.

[1] Speared through the body by the horns of a buck elk