Waterbury evening Democrat., 1893-10-16
How tho Wild BOars of tho Jungles of India and Northern Africa Are Hunted by Enthusiastic Sportsmen of Other CountrIcs-PIcnty of Danger.

by Enthusiastic sportsmen of Other
 CountrIcs-PIcnty of Danger.
 As an ardent pig sticker may be for given for advancing the opinion that it Is the finest sport in tho world. By "pig sticking" of course mean pig sticking as it is practiced in India and in north ern Africa and perhaps in some other English colonies-viz, riding down the, pig on horseback and dispatching him with spears.
 The Indian wild pig varies naturally according to his home. The biggest have ever seen were in the Vindhya mountains, where I used to shoot them as food for my beaters Sometimes they were of vast size, bigger, think, than even their Ganges cousins.
 A peculiarity of the wild pig is the straightness of his tail as compared with the curled appendage of his domestic brother. From the top of his low fore head to the end of his snout is almost a perfectly straight line. and he has far longer snout and jaw than the English market pig. His skin is kind of blUish gray and his bristles gray or black, though sometimes an almost brown pig is found. The wild pig will never live far from water. He is hap piest in the long grass, often 12 feet high, that grows along the banks of the big Indian rivers, and above all rcjoiccs in ''jao." Il kind of evergreen brushweod that is as common as the grass. He only eats at night, and about 10 D. m he sal lies forth from cover and will go many miles to find the succulent sugar cane or other luxury, returning as n rule about l.. l.
 Pig sticking begins usually about i Christmas week, when the giant vegeta- tion of the rains has died down sufficient ly to get at piggy, and the marshy ground where he lives is firm enough for horses, but it is not till the end of Feb ruary that really good pig sticking be- gins, and it improves as the weather gets dryer and hotter till the June rains come, and pig sticking instantly ceases.
 At about c a. m., after a light break fast, the spOrtsmen set out-usually ir. ''tumtumS S"-to the meet, having sen. their spears and horses on ahead over night, together with the all important ! mess tiffin basket, in winch n huge block of ice and innumerable soda water bot lies and beer bottles figure largely It is rare to gather together more than 12 men. It may havo been different ir olden times, but polo is formidable rival to pig sticking nowadays, and the ordinary British subaltern can rarely af- ford time and money for both Indeed. from my own experience, l should say the average field was not above five, and personally, l much prefer, except from the social point of view, very few com panions.
 The officer in command divides the party, if largo enough. into little sections of three, and each section separates from the other and keeps together all day. either at one end of the line or i'll the middle. The CoOlies are usually about 50 in number and form line. covering about 200 yards of ground. Each is armed, or should he, with a big stick, and the end men carry flags, which can be seen above tho long grass and help to keep the Coolies ill line. Behind them marches on each wing one of the shl- kari's satellites, and in tho center is the shikari himself on horseback, and these i officers, like acrgeants. keep the line straight, and CXhnrt. often in language more forCiblc than polite, the apathetic coolics to strenuous cxertions The sportsmen generally ridc few wards in advance of tho line. unless. from tho na- ture of the covert, the pig is likely to break back
 \ pig lies usually in kind of form like haro and will sometimes let q man or horse almost tread on him bo fore moving, and being often covered with mud or dust is very difficult to see in the grass and weeds. When, how ever, ho does jump up, he slips along at an incredible speed for the first 30 or 10 yards and then settles down to n very fast gallop. l have known boars at once on being put up mako straight for the first man or horse they see before they have been wounded or touched, and, as all know, the tusk of the wild boar cuts like razor, though luckily the wound Is usually healthy. clean cut-very diff ferent from a maulng by the fetid claws of tiger or leopard or the thrust of q stag's horn.
 Wherever q pig gets up one of the sections go after it, and there are various little rules as to how the pig should be attacked and in what order. The most important rule Is never to drop your spear, still less throw it at the pig, as some beginners have been known to do. Spears are weighted with lead at the handle, and when dropped from the hand in the long grass, the sharp end, being the lighter, naturally sticks up, so that the next horseman or beater may be wounded. know of several horrible ac- cidents that have happened in this way.
 The man who first draws blood gets ''the first spear" and is entitled to the carcass. The body is given to the coolies to eat, and the head is taken home by the triumphant sportsman to adorn his bun galow hall, or the tushes are taken out and made into some knickknack Of course he is in honor bound to help fairly kill 9s well as prick his foe, but it is the second horseman, riding perhaps four lengths behind him, who has the most dangerous part to play. A pig when wounded rarely pursues his for mer course, and the leader often loses touch with him, while his follower has to bear the full brunt of terrific charge. It is fatal to receive boar's charge at walk or trot. One cannot go too fast not straight at the pig, but at a slight angle to him as he charges.
 In Bombay a long spear is used, and the boar is stuck by an "underhand' thrust. In eastern Bengal a jabbing spear is used and is more deadly, think Of course it Is unlawful to stick sows. They cannot fight we'll, having no tushes -Baily's Magazine.