DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3461#0147
131 THE WILD SPORTS OF INDIA.
and to diminish the number of hogs, and now it 19
difficult to rear (or turn up) a sounder within many
miles of the places where they once abounded. Still
an occasional good run is to be had, and in lower
Bengal a considerable number of pigs afford trophies
to the Budge-Budge Hunt.
The flesh of the wild boar is much esteemed in
India, but. the sportsman prefers the possession of the
tusks to any other fruits of his prowess in taking'
" first spear."
Tiger-hunting, the next in general favour, is pur-
sued upon a different system to that adopted in the
case of hog-hunting. It would not be safe to risk the
encounter of a tiger on horseback. Elephants, there-
ore, are put into requisition, and are trebly useful in
feonveying the sportsman to the field, protecting him
from the tiger's charge, and assisting in the destruc-
tion of the " feline monster."
A tiger's chief haunt is the jungle skirting a
meadow or wheat land, where oxen either graze or
draw the plough. It is seldom that a sortie from the
jungle is not rewarded by the capture of a heifer or
young buffalo. When, therefore, the death of a trou-
blesome scourge of the herds is determined on, it is
not unusual to bait the field with a cow, whose lowings
at night attract the tiger. The latter sallies forth,
seizes the prey, destroys it at once, and is found in
the morning gorged to repletion by his nocturnal
repast. The sportsmen, occupying howdahs on the
backs of elephants, well armed with a couple of rifles
each, which a servant keeps continually loaded, and'
urovided with cigars, biscuits, and brandy-and-water,
ot pale ale, advance in line upon the tiger, and the
moment he is sighted, salute him with a volley. Death,
often, is the immediate result, and nothing then remains
to be done but to provide the carcase with a carnage
home, which is generally accomplished by throwing it
and to diminish the number of hogs, and now it 19
difficult to rear (or turn up) a sounder within many
miles of the places where they once abounded. Still
an occasional good run is to be had, and in lower
Bengal a considerable number of pigs afford trophies
to the Budge-Budge Hunt.
The flesh of the wild boar is much esteemed in
India, but. the sportsman prefers the possession of the
tusks to any other fruits of his prowess in taking'
" first spear."
Tiger-hunting, the next in general favour, is pur-
sued upon a different system to that adopted in the
case of hog-hunting. It would not be safe to risk the
encounter of a tiger on horseback. Elephants, there-
ore, are put into requisition, and are trebly useful in
feonveying the sportsman to the field, protecting him
from the tiger's charge, and assisting in the destruc-
tion of the " feline monster."
A tiger's chief haunt is the jungle skirting a
meadow or wheat land, where oxen either graze or
draw the plough. It is seldom that a sortie from the
jungle is not rewarded by the capture of a heifer or
young buffalo. When, therefore, the death of a trou-
blesome scourge of the herds is determined on, it is
not unusual to bait the field with a cow, whose lowings
at night attract the tiger. The latter sallies forth,
seizes the prey, destroys it at once, and is found in
the morning gorged to repletion by his nocturnal
repast. The sportsmen, occupying howdahs on the
backs of elephants, well armed with a couple of rifles
each, which a servant keeps continually loaded, and'
urovided with cigars, biscuits, and brandy-and-water,
ot pale ale, advance in line upon the tiger, and the
moment he is sighted, salute him with a volley. Death,
often, is the immediate result, and nothing then remains
to be done but to provide the carcase with a carnage
home, which is generally accomplished by throwing it