Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1890-12-11
VIZ BEASTS OF INDIA.
sroaTsmeN FIND PLENTY OF ex-
CITING oUARRIes.

spORTsmeN FIND PLENTY OF ex-
CITING oUARRIEs.
r.. uua ,,,ar Il the Best and Hravest-
Tn. ,,,,noceros' Acute senses of smell
and uearing--Points on Hunting the
savage Animals.
of M Indian animals the wild boar Is
the b,.st and bravest have seen a great
deal OF him. having for many years hunted
him on horseback OF with line OF ele-
nbapts 10 drive him out Of the thick
roverta SO that other men well mounted
on Acct horses might pursue aud slay him
with their spears was but an Indifferent
performer with the hog spear, and haveno
feats OF prowess to recount, though once
took first spear where about ten other
men were eager Tor that honor; but il was
a very small boar, and it was quite his own
fault that be fell into my hands, for was
string smoking at the end OF n covert,
Just thinking OF starting for home after
blank morning, when the animal rushed
out aud In self defense | was obliged to
spear It. How angry some OF the other
men were ut my luck. though they did not
all know how nnmerited il was.
IL was most interesting to watch the
dodges and devices OF cunning sd gray
boar rs stood ia my howdah and tried to
get the elephants TO drive him out at a
point convenient for the riders. The boar
usually had his own ideas as to the line he
would take II he were compelled TO face
the open; but before coming TO that last
resource he would try everything else.
Perhaps IL was not heroic conduct on his
part, but he would seek TO induce the old
fat SOW. his wife. with her infant progeny.
TO 20 out aud show themselves as a blind
20 the hunters If there were any OF his
older CONS in the jungle he would roust
them from their hiding places and try to
drive them out. to become yicarious sac
riilce.
THE CUNNING BOAR.
He would lie down and hide himself in
an Incredible small patch Of grass, so that
the elephants might pass him by unsus-
pectingly; or, il too carelessly pressed by
loose line, he would charge right at some
lettering elephants legs, and there are
very few elephants that will not fiinch and
turn aside from n wild boar's charge. 1t
needed much patience and watchfulness TO
contend with all the wiles of the clever am,
imal. | usually carried gun loaded with
snipe shot, and a charge fired into the grass
or bushes just behind where the boar was
moving generally startled him. and il a
chance pellet hit him he thought it best to
quit the covert and trust 10 his speed to
reach some stronger shelter or swamp inn
penetrable to elephants and horses.
1t takes very fast horse 10 catch a 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 10 spear the animal | shall not try
10 repeat the oft told story of the mortal
combat that ensues. Oftentimes 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 rs high as thirty-six
inches aud there isa skeleton in the Indian
museum ia Calcutta of boar that was
forty inches at the shoulder There is al
most as much difference in the anatomy OF
y wild boar aud tame one as there is be-
tween man-of-war and merchant shin.
THE RHINocERos
In the size Of the brain the wild boar has
= marked superiority. and perhaps this ac-
counts for his great courage, which makes
him fearless Of everything. One morning,
looking out Of a railway carriage, saw a
wild boar come charging down ut the pass
ing train, but he missed il, for the train
was going too fast for him. and he was a
little hampered in forcing his way through
the wire railway fencing
had something to do with rhinoceros.
but never succeeded in shooting one.
though. sought them for three long and
hot days under the guidance OF the best
sportsmen in Assam, and | visited their
haunts In the Sunderbunds with men of
great local experience. But the rhinoceros,
like all big animals, has acute senses of
smelling and hearing. and makes of at
the slightest indication OF danger We
had n large one ia the Calcutta Zoo which
was very tame, and when it got u bad
sbscess in the head, OF which it eventually
died, IL used TO come and lie down to have
its ear syringed by the veterinary surgeon,
whom tt learned TO recognize
There were two fine rhinoeeros In the
rajah's rnenagerie ut Burdwan In the in.
closure in which the crocodiles were kept.
for the pond in which the crocodiles used
TO swim served also us bathing place for
the rhinoceros. One day young pig
had been turned into the inclosure TO be-
come food for the crocodiles, and as these
animals don't travel very fast on land piggy
led them lively chase, and ut last, per-
haps by chance, it took refuge under the
legs OF one of the rhinoceros, which was
Ir.xir ft.r. 80. .,.Ia. r. 4. n