Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1897-04-13
PIG sTIOKING in INDIA.


National Sport.
Pig-sticking is conducted by rule
as well known and as Loyalty obcycC
as any known sport. writes II w
Lawson in The London Telegraph
When a boar goes away, only tho
party that is posted on his side is en-.
titled to pursue, and IF any Others
join in they do so merely as onlook-
ers, and are not allowed to use their
spears. II is easy to find out the first
principle of the hunt You must
Jump of, to use the racing phrase,
as fast as YOU possibly can, you have
no chance, except by a lucky iluke
of a spear. "Not yours to reason
Why" when the word is given, nor
yours to think of what country lies
before and about. High grass or bare
plain have to be covered "aequo ami
mo-" and it is useless to try and keep
your horse on his legs by doing more
than guide him to avoid such broken
ground as can be seen in the open.
Going through the long grass at
full pelt is curious sensation. At
first it seems certain that over the
burnt-up stumps or roots of coarse
heritage the horse will come down,
but it is marvellous how sure of foot
the constant practice makes him. A
scramble or two, no doubt, is inevita-
bic, but it is not often that any ordi-
nary obstacle brings him to grief.
Blind "nullahs," however, and deep
cracks in dried-up watercomses and
"jheels" are not to be negotiated as a
matter of certainty, and the best will
sometimes be humbled to the dust.
Falling is no joke for the steed or
rider when the ground is everywhere
as hard as baked bricks; few get off
without real shaking. A good man
told me that as rule the worst falls
were Of small horses, because when
they came down they seemed to make
less effort to save themselves, and so
their burden strikes the ground with
the full and undiminished force that
the pace creates. Last year at Jodh-
pore the worst fall of the season, from
which lady sustained some terrible
injuries that happily did not prove
fatal, was one from All Arab pony that
crossed his legs on the fat. This day
there were three troopers" two Of
them none too pleasant. One man
fell into 'nullah" and got a slight
conclusion; a second did not keep
his seat when his horse ''pecked" bad
ly over root and came down with
the thick and loaded butt end of his
spear under his arm, bruising his ribs
badly, and the third went head over
heels just in front Of me during the
last run of the day in the thick grass.
The boar that went away on the
right gave smart ten minutes and
was successfully speared. As no more
came out of the covert we advanced
in a long line across the open ooun-
try, beating the grass as we went, the
hOrsemene even with the footmen. The
pigs lie so close that the line is often
right on them before they break and
two or three "squeakers" got up I'M
der my horse in such way az to make |
him Jump male into the air"
Two more old bears had been killed
by other parties before we had a
chance. Ii is true there had been
two or>three gallops, but all of them
ended in our finding we had been
in pursuit of sows, and the weaker
sex we were naturally obliged to keep
our spears off. AT the same time,
as in fox hunt which does not end in
Il kill, we had a good deal of fun in
the riding before all, or at any rate,
the more Ignorant among us, found
out our mistake. AS is wen known,
there is no gamer" animal on earth
than an old boar lie will charge a
tiger and even an elephant, and never
reckons for a moment the size or
strength OF the foe; therefore, when
he is at bay, he nearly always goes
for the horse, or, if he gets chance,
for the man. That fine old sportsman,
Sir Pertab Sing, Of Podhpore, a very
prince ofrajputs, showed not long ago
how to encounter the real danger of
a boar's onslaught. His horse fell
with him just as he had got up to
cunning pig that crossed and re-
crossed the horses stride, and as he |
was on the ground the boar came for
hum, but in a moment he was up.
Jumping on one side he caught the
old pig by the hind legs and held
HIM until his companions came up,
and got in their spears. Awkward
wounds, however-sometimes even
serious ones-are not uncommon
from the rip of the boar's tusks after
an unlucky fall None Of the tusls
ON this occasion was in fighting form
and the majority Of the men out
old hands of the native cavalry
were too good at the game to give