The examiner., 1885-12-19
A BATTLE WITH WILD HOGS.
Adventures of Hunter i'm Arkal
 sas-Along the Bottoms.

ABATTLE WITH WILD HOGS.
 Adventures of Hunter i'm Arkan-
 sas-Along the Bottoms.
 An Arkansas correspondent writes: Few people are aware that there are such things.as wild hogs in. this country, but such is the case, however little the fact may be known. Not long since James Reynolds and myself were on deer hunt ing expedition on one of the numerous bayous that jut into Red river in the southeastern part of Arkansas. We had with us two dogs, and were trailing along the bank of the bayou-the dogs some 200 or 300 yards in advance. All at once the dogs began to bark, and there arose the greatest consternation imaginable. It did not take us long to determine the cause of all the commotion, as the dogs soon hove in sight, fighting and retreating toward us. Attacking them was a drove of wild, infuriated hogs, some of them so large and ferocious that grizzly bear would be lit tie more formidable. To say that they would strike terror to the bravest heart is but to make an assertion that would re- ceive immediate credence of the reader should he ever be brought face to face with them.
 What was to be done9 Here they came with deafening and unearthly noise, tleir every bristle projecting forward, eyes reddened with rage, froth dripping from their mouths, and their long tusks ready to rip open any one or anything that off, fered combat.
 We stationed ourselves by the waters edge so as to be ready to take to the bayou in case of our guns failing to check them. When they were about fifty yards from us we encouraged the dogs to stand their ground, and so they did for 8 short time until one of them was struck by very large boar and literally ripped open, the poor creature's entrails falling to the ground before he expired. The other dog then beat nasty retreat toward us close ly followed by these maddened monsters.
 We were armed with double -barreled breech-loading guns, one barrel ri1ed and the other shot, rifles thirty7eight caliber, and our shot cartridges contained No. 2 shot. The remaining dog had been so disabled that we could expect little, if any. assistance from him. It was all he could do to take care of himself, and rather questionable about his being able to do that for any considerable time.'
 suggested to Reynolds that we give them a volley from our four barrels at once, and perhaps it would so discomf1t them that they would retreat. This we did when they were about two rods from us, and although we felled some three or four to the ground and crippled others, they seemed more enraged than ever, and were on us before we could reload our guns. The only thing left for us to do was to take to the water (and very fortunate for us that we had water to take to), which we immediately did. Abandoning our guns, we plunged in and swan to the opposite shore, the live dog taking kindly to our example.
 The bayou at this point was about four rods wide. After crossing, we each select ed tree which would be easy to climb in case the hogs should cross after us. Sev- eral times I Imagined that they were about to cross; but the dog now having ceased to bark and lain down, while we concealed ourselves behind the trunks of large tree es, their rage seemed to assuage, and pres ently they moved off down the bayou.
 Some little time after they had disap- peared among the thick timber of the bot tom. we swam back to our guns. After making an examination of the hogs we had dispatched, we concluded that we had all the bottom hunting that we desired that day, and struck out for the uplands.
 We learned that these wild hogs abound ill considerable numbers along the bottoms of Red River and tributary streams in this locality. These hogs belong to the sFrazor back" breed and grow to an enormous size, feeding principally on the mast of the bottoms and adjacent uplands. We were also informed that nau It not been for our dogs they would probably not have given us any trouble, but would have quietly withdrawn on our approach
 The tasks of the largest one that we killed Ian old boar) projected fully four inches from the jaw, curving outward and upward from their base on the upper jaw, and upward and outward on the lower. They are frequently hunted in the fall and winter after the mast has fallen and they have become fattened on 1t and make, it is said, fair bacon.
 Were it not for the fact that the hog cholera makes frequent ravages among them, the bottom would swarm with them, and it would be dangerous to travel there. As it is one feels safer at distance than among them, especially if you have dogs with you, which they are certain to attack if they come within their sight In the drove that we encountered there were fully thirty, the greater num- Der of them large, and must have been 4 pr years old. l presume, also, that over flows destroy very many of them.
 If there is anything to be dreaded more in the woods than an attack of wild hogs in considerable numbers, I have yet to learn what it is.