Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1872-11-11
An Adventure With Mexi-
can Hogs.

The wild hog or peccary of Mexico,
in spite of its, Insignificant size, is one
Of the most truculent and fierce little an
imals the sportsman can fall in with.
Standing seldom more than twenty, and
never more than twenty-four inches high,
they are. from the sharpness and length
of their tusks. and the rapidity with
which they can cut up and down with
them, really very dangerous little beasts
and from their going in small bands of
from three or four to fifteen or twenty,
sportsmen generally give them wide
berth /; and no matter how good your
dogs may be, they stand no chance with
them. They seem to fear no danger
count no odds, and are seemingly al
ways ready for afght. Numberless sto-
ries are told of their ierceness, and |
am about to relate an adventure of my
own with. them, which might have re-
suited very unpleasantly for myself.
Some years ago was on shooting
expedition up the river Brazos, and feel
ing rather aguish one morning, did not
accompany my companions on their dali
ly excursion. Being better in the after
noon, Itook small rife and went into
a cane patch to see if | could pick up
wild turkey for dinner
In stalking these birds one has to
move as silently as possible, as the
slightest noise will scare them and it
is also requisite to keep an extremely
sharp lookout for your game, owing to
the density of the covert. so that the
slightest motion of the underground or
canes caused by the running of the birds
may be noticed, and snap shot taken,
it being very seldom that they can be
got to rise. Moving on in this silent
manner, noticed the slender cane stems
in front of me shake, and presently
caught sight of some small, dark object
which | at once concluded to be wild
turkey. Moving on as quickly, and at
the same time as quietly as could,
at last saw enough of the body to fire at,
and pulled.
, Scarce had the report died away be-
fore, in twenty directions, the canes were
shaking, and heard the snap-snap noise
which wild hogs make. l knew it was
no time to loiter there, or even to stop
! to ,.el-.,a yuU urUUVu-IU v,---1.- 90
turning about bolted for the outskirts
, of the cane patch as hard as could lay
!. foot to ground, with the whole pack af-
. ter me like so many hounds after fox.
. Fortunately for me, just outside the
!, canes were some trees, upon reaching
f which threw the sling of my rife ovel
! my head, and went up one quicker,
believe, than ever topman went aloft
!, and even then my pursuers were snap
q ping and grunting round the root of my
tree before I had time to comfortably
, settle myself among the branches.
, At first was disposed to make ligh
. of the situation, for did not then know
, the cursed tenacity with which these in
fernal little mixtures of ill-temper ant
i bristles stick to their enemies, and [ fan
cied that if shot one or two of them
! the rest would skedaddle but as [ want
10 ed to save my ammunition, l determine
W to have a pipe, hoping that they woul
,r get tired of waiting, and by returnin
f. to the banquet of young cane-shoots Civ
2 me a chance of descending from m
~ perch and returning home. So [ lit m
a. pipe and then reloaded my rifle Upo
: counting the herd, I found that ther
= were sixteen of them; and they reall
u formed no pleasure picture, as, wit
. the bristles on their backs standing o
end like ''quills upon the fretful porcr
" pine" they ratified their ivory tusht
~ like castanets, and besprinkled thei
il breasts and sides with white frothy foam
= as they ran round and round the ire
n. looking up at me with anything but
=, friendly countenance.
nc After waiting for about half an hou
10 [ saw that they had no present intentie
of leaving. So. selecting the largest
:, them, I put ball through his head
We The flash and report instead of, as I hs
'ie fondly hoped, soaring them, merely seer
OK ed to add fresh fuel to their rage, ar
''e their efforts to scale my fortress becan
oi redoubled. Again | loaded, and dro
ne ped another which had merely Il
I'M same effect upon them. I now began
i'e be seriously alarmed, for l had on
no four more bullets in my pouch /; and
MS course, my position being so much abo
ac- them, they only represented four mo
l'o of my enemies, leaving party of t.
loe still to keep up the blockade. 1t W
lhe only about three o'clock, and | knt
ac- my friends would not return to camp u
III til sundown, and even then my absen
'he would cause no alarm, as they won
oie conjecture that was hunting !; and
la' the only thing | could do was to sit
en, my tree, and curse the pigs to my hear
oai content until the time for my frien,
ian return drew nigh, and then open fire
the brutes again, and trust to the char
hat that the report of my rife may bri