full grown pigs. The villagers must have killed and carried away nearly
double that number of young and wounded. That was a very extreme case,
and in a pure jungle country; but in settled districts like Tirhoot
and Chumparun the weaker sex should always be spared, and a close
season for winged game should be insisted on. To the credit of the
planters be it said, that this necessity is quite recognised; but
every pot-bellied native who can beg, borrow, or steal a gun, or in
any way procure one, is constantly on the look out for a pot shot at
some unlucky hen-partridge or quail. A whole village will turn out to
compass the destruction of some wretched sow that may have shewn her
bristles outside the jungle in the daytime.

In districts where cultivated land is scarce and population scattered,
it is almost impossible to enjoy pig-sticking. The breaks of open land
between the jungles are too small and narrow to afford galloping space,
and though you turn the pig out of one patch of jungle, he immediately
finds safe shelter in the next. On the banks of some of the large
rivers, however, such as the Gunduch and the Bagmuttee, there are vast
stretches of undulating sand, crossed at intervals by narrow creeks,
and spotted by patches of close, thick jungle. Here the grey tusker
takes up his abode with his harem. When once you turn him out from his
lair, there is grand hunting room before he can reach the distant patch
of jungle to which he directs his flight. In some parts the _jowah_ (a
plant not unlike broom in appearance) is so thick, that even the
elephants can scarcely force their way through, but as a rule the
beating is pretty easy, and one is almost sure of a find.