ting the pleasure of being at his heels, but on arriving at the spot in which we had observed him on the preceding day we found him nearer to his cover than before.
"Knowing that when hogs take the alarm they are apt to change their route and their hours, we were not surprised at this manœuvring. We were still earlier on the third morning, when we took our positions nearer his place of nightly resort, and had the satisfaction to find that we were in time to bear him company homeward. Here, however, some delay took place. The hog on his first breaking from the small jungle where we awaited him, and through which he had to pass, after glutting himself in a swamp among some rye, sown extremely thick for transplanting, found that he was watched. He, therefore, after trotting out a hundred yards, gave a sort of snort and returned. This was precisely what we wished for.
"It was not yet day, and the desire to intercept our prey had made us push forward so as to place our people far behind. They, however, came up to the number of a hundred, and after beating the cover for a short time, our friend took fairly to the plain.
"As we were careful not to dispirit, and had cautiously kept from that side on which we wished him to bolt, he gained upon us a little. He had to go at least three miles, and the whole of the plain was laid out in paddy, or rice fields.
"The hog kept a-head the whole way, so that there was no possibility of our throwing a distant spear.
"The swine generally establish themselves in cane or grain plantations, when these are high and afford good shelter, and here they live for several months; but about the middle of March, or, at the latest, the beginning of April, they are obliged to shift their quarters, as the cane and grains are generally cut about that time.
"Hogs are often found in March with three or four inches of fat on the chines and shoulders.
"It usually requires a great number of persons to drive the hogs out of the sugar-canes, on account of their extent.
"The hog, being forced from his covert, is crowded upon by several horsemen with spears, which they use in the manner of javelins. They pursue the animal at speed as he makes his way to the nearest covert, darting their spears into his body as they come up to him.
"Many may be seen with scars, evidently the result of wounds received on former occasions, and such are extremely difficult to deal with. They will break out of the line repeatedly, dash at all they meet with, and eventually create such terror as effectually to discourage the beaters, who thence get into groups, and, though they continue their vociferation, act so timorously as to render it expedient to withdraw them for the purpose of trying a fresh cover. It is
