National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1885-07-27
NARROWING HOGS.
CENTRAL AMERICAN SPORT WHICH aIvEs
PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT.

A OENIHAh AmbhOAN HfOhI WhlOh tlN&a
PLENTY OF EXCITEMENT.
All the members Of our party, writes q
correspondent in South America to the
Cincinnati Enquirer, were at peace with
themselves and all the world until the
ubiquitous guide made discovery which
turned his yellow face TO an ashen hue,
and brought him from the stream whore
he had gone for water, yelling, "Chanca
del monte Ohanca del monte !"
A acknowledged hog was trotting
about fifty PAGES in the frightened mans
rear. II had q couple of glittering white
tusks on either side of its jaw, which 1t
proceeded to whet ON the roots of q wal
nut tree in which Rafael took shelter.
"Climb, climb, seniors !" he exclaimed,
~ soon as he was safely out Of reach,
"there is a plenty of them coming Take
up much powder and much shots, or
they will keep us freed until we starve."
But the SENIORS did not mean to be
freed Mt all. They recognized in the
animal the hog against which the har-
poons we're to be used, and, instead of
leaping into a tree, they got into the
saddle and unstrapped the spears, which
were beside the guns on the mules backs
ready for the march.
A patter of little feet in the forest told
that Rafael's "plenty of them" were com
ing, and Days spurred at once toward
the brute, which was still grunting at the
foot of the walnut tree.
."When il saw me coming IL trotted to-
ward me, and it took all the strength in
my left hand TO keep my mule from turn
ing tail and boiling, but l kept her head
well TO il. and, as the boar closed with
us, my blade caught him ut the base of
the skull and shaved away the skin along
his spine clean to the tail. II was awk-
ward work for green hand, and If the
mule had not SHE'D violently to one side
the rush of the pig would have certainly
broken his foreleg. The first taste of
the harpoon seemed to make the brute
furious, and, with blood streaming down
his side, he came back ut me, gnashing
his tusks like the rattle of pair of bones
at the minstrels. This time / missed
him altogether, and his sharp teeth took
a couple of square inches of skin from
my mules off foreleg. But at the third
charge gave him the harpoon square in
the eye. He reared up on his launches
out of my hand in his fall.
"By this time Smith had closed with
the leaders of the drove, which had
broken cover when they heard the strug-
gle going on, and i saw there was no time
to get out of the saddle and pick up my
spear, so l tore my gun out of the fast
ening which held it to the saddle behind
me and put charge of buckshot into the
throat of bristly boar which was goring
Smiths mule in the rear, After that
had all could do to take care of myself.
The little beasts of them larger
than an ordinary bulldog at me
like whirlwind, and for the next ten
minutes expected to be thrown into the
middle of them. The mule was doing
her level best TO unseat me, and all the
indications pointed to her being brought
to the ground with broken legs. The
skin was torn from her shanks in rib
bons, and if had gone down it would
have been all day with me.
"Smith soon saw that the case WAS too
serious TO trust to the harpoons any
longer, and after sticking one through
the neck he threw the spear away and
Joined me at thinning the drove out with
his rifle. This was much quicker work,
and after we had bowled over six and
wounded several more the whole party
became panic stricken and raced away
in the woods like so many deer.
"When the coast was clear Rafael came
down from his perch. He looked at the
dead hogs and then at us,with an expires.
sion of reverence upon his face. 'El
Norte esta diabolo' was all he said.
''For man who knows how to handle
q lance or harpoon pig sticking may
be good sport; but, for my part, l would
not venture into the midst Of drove of
Central American hogs with q harpoon
as my only weapon for clean title deed
to the whole country"