Morning journal and courier., 1890-09-24
Some Indian wild Beasts.

sonic Hn0lan ne0kIss
From Longman's Magazine.l
OF all Indian animals the wild boar is
the best and bravest have seen great
deal of him, having for many years hunt
ed him on horseback, or with line of ell
ephants to drive him out of the thick CO.
verts, SO that other men well mounted on
feet horses might pursue and slsy him
with their spears. was but an indiffer-
ent performer with the hog-spear, and
have no feats of prowess to recount,
though I once took a, first spear where
about ten other men were eager for that
honor; but it was a very small boar, and
it was quite his own fault that he fell into
my hands, for was sitting smoking at
the end of covert just thinking of start
ing for home after blank morning, when
the animal rushed out, and in self-defence
1 was obliged to spear it. How angry
some of the other men were at my lack,
though they did not all know how unmer-
tied It was. Being disabled from riding
by an accident, it subsequently became
my pleasant function to manage the line
of beating elephants, with which, in low
er Bengal, we had to drive the wild boar
from his lair, in high rushes and thick
grass and thorny bushes, SO as to make
him break across the open plain and fly
for his life to some other shelter. 1t was
most interesting to watch the lodges and
devices of cunning old gray boar as I
stood in my howdah and tried to get the
elephants to drive him out at point con-
venient for the riders. The boar usually
had his own ideas as to the line that he
would take if he were compelled to face
the open; but before coming to that last
resource he would try everything else.
Perhaps it was not heroic conduct on his
part, but he would seek to induce the fat
old SOW, his wife, with her infant proge-
ny, to go out and show themselves as a
blind to the hunters. If there were any
OF his older sons in the Jungle he would
roust them from their hiding places, and
try to drive them out, to become a vicari-
GUS sacrifice. He would lie down and hide
himself in an incredibly small patch of
grass, so that the elephants might pass
him by unsuspectingly; or, if too careless
" pressed by loose line, he would charge
right at some lettering elephants legs, and
there are very few elephants that will not
finch and turn aside from wild boar's
charge. 1t needed much patience and
watchfulness to contend with all the wiles
of the clever animal / usually carried a
fired into the grass or bushes just behind
where the boar was moving generally
started him, and if chance pellet hit him
he thought it best to quit the covert and
trust to his speed to reach some stronger
shelter or swamp impenetrable to ele-
plants and horses. If the riders kept
well back, so as not to turn the boar again
into the covert, he would have about a
hundred yards start before the sound of
their horses hoofs and the cries of Tally
hol" informed him of the coming danger
1t takes very fast horse to catch full
grown boar in a gallop over the open
plain, but every experienced rider knows
that he must go as hard as he can if he
means to spear the animal. / shall not
try to repeat the oft-told tale of the NOR
tai combat that cnsues. Often-times
could see all the incidents of the chase
from my howdah, for not unfrequently
the boar when overtaken would jink and
come round again to the jungle from
which he had started. When men ride
really well the boar seldom escapes unless
he has the luck to find some deep swamp
through which the horses cannot follow
him. A full grown wild boar in lower
: Bengal is about thirty inches high, but
/ they are sometimes found as high as thir
, ty-six inches, and there is skeleton il
/ the Indian museum in Calcutta of boal
! that was forty inches at the shoulder
There is almost as much difference in the
anatomy of a wild boar and tame one a.
there is between man-of-war and a mer
chant ship. In the size of the brain the
wild boar has marked superiority, and
perhaps this accounts for his great eour
age, which makes him fearless of every.
thing. One morning, looking out of q
railway carriage, L saw wild boar come
charging down at the passing train, but
he missed it, for the train was going toc
fast for him, and he was little ham
pered in forcing his way through the wir'
1 railway fencing.
had something to do with rhinoceros
but never succeeded in shooting one
though / sought for them for three lon.
and hot days under the guidance of tn
best sportsman in Assam; and i visites
their haunts in the Sunderbunds with mel
of great local experience. But the rhino
ceros, like all big animals, has acut
senses of smelling and hearing, and make
off at the slightest indication of danger
We had large one in the Calcutta 70
which was very tame, and when it got
bad abscess in the head, of which it even
tually died, it used to come and lie dow
to have its ear syringed by the veterinar.
surgeon, whom it learned to recognize
4
jah's menagerie at Burdwan in the enclC
sure in which the crocodiles We're kept, fo
the pond in which the crocodiles used
swim served also as a bathing place for th
| rhinoceros. One day a young pig ha
been turned into the enclosure to becom
food for the crocodiles, and as these AM
mails don't travel very fast on land, pigg
led them lively chase, and at last, pei
haps by chance, it took refuge under th
legs of one of the rhinoceros, which wa
looking on solemnly, but when the croc,
diles approached the rhinoceros the latte
presented his horn and warned the croc,
diles to be off. And SO the pig survive
and grew up and lived for some month
under the protection of the rhinoceros.
saw it there and sent an account of it I
NV cousin Frank Buckland. But in th
course of time piggy became over-conf
dent, and one day, as he was walkin
through some high grass near the pond
one of the crocodiles that was lying ther
in the sun swept him into the water wit
his powerful tail and plunged in after him
and no more was seen of poor piggy, sav
that the waters were stained with hi
blood. When our large rhinoceros in tn
Calcutta Zoo died I wrote to every nativ
prince and potentate of my acquaintanc
vi to beg for q new specimen, but they ha
none to spare. At last wrote to an oil
friend, native magistrate, named Tyju
NAL Ali, as follows: "My dear sir: Whe
|, 1 was magistrate and you were a polics
man, if ordered you to catch a thief yo
caught him. Now you are a magistrate i
, the Sunderbunds want you to catch
rhinoceros for the Zoo, and l am sure yo
will not fail" Ny friend replied urgin
the difficulties of the place, but promisin
, to do his best Several months passed
when one day man appeared with le
ter to me: t'Honored sir: Herewith
send YOU rhinoceros, which my shikar
-. ~.-~l4 4 : s.a. .nuch labor They shl