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JOHNA.SEAVERNS

Webster Family Library of Veterinary Medi
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine
Tufts University
200 Westboro Road
North Grafton, MA 01 536

SPORT IN WAR

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WITHIN THE HALO OF OUR WATCHFIRES

Frontispiece

s>

' PREFACE

TT seems desirable to write a few words
of preface to this book^ chiefly ivith
the object of stating what it is : a reprint
of sketches which have appeared in the
Badminton Magazine. Before the first
number was published in August 1895,
/ was gratified by receiving from Major
R. S. S. Baden-Powell the offer of an
article about Pig-sticking, illustrated as
well as written by himself and called
" The Sport of Rajahsy I knew that

r<£?

?<S5

PREFACE

he wrote and drew as well as he did a

great variety of things^ and gladly

accepted the papery which appeared as

the first article in the second number. I

told him I should always be delighted to

receive anything he cared to send, and

from time to time other contributions

followed. Then came a pause, while

this most wonderful of all-round men

was occupied with sterner work. This

is not the place to dilate upon the feverish

earnestness and anxiety with which for

many months the eyes of the civilised

world were turned to Mafeking, nor

upon the almost delirious joy with which

news of the relief was at last welcomed.

The Commander of the little town has

8

PREFACE

made for himself an imperishable name,
not only by the gallantry and marvellous
resource that marked his defence of the
placej but by the unfailing cheerfidness
with which he sustained and revived the
spirits of soldiers and civilians under his
charge. The personality of the General,
all that he said and did, had said and
done, became matters of intense interest,
and naturally induced me to turn up
these sketches, only again to be delighted
by their freshness, vigour and charm.
To preserve them in book form became
at once my keen desire. The only point
to be considered was the author^s views
on the subject. I therefore cabled to
Maf eking, and after a long wait, which

CONTENTS

^^^iH^ Sport in War

A Run with the Cape Foxhounds
The Ordeal of the Spear .
The Sport of Rajahs .
Hadj Ano

ILLUSTRATIONS

5^

She looked almost as if she were resting after a

bout of tennis {from a photograph) .
The King oj Eastern Sports ....

The hunters hunted,

He was able to grip the spear

Tommy Atkins pig-sticking ....

The captain, who was leading, pushed in first . 173

119
127

m

^}^ It was a great fight

jkt'-^'F*"^''

Hadj Ano^s camp
Had] A no .

179
189
199

I HAT sort of sport did
you have out there ?"
is the question with
which men have, as
a rule, greeted one on return from
the campaign in Rhodesia ; and one
could truthfully say, "We had ex-
cellent sport." For, in addition to
the ordinary experiences included
under that head, the work involved
in the military operations was suffi-
ciently sporting in itself to fill up a
good measure of enjoyment.

SPORT IN WAR
In the first place, scouting played
a very prominent part in the pre-
liminaries to major operations, and
gave opportunities for the exercise
of all the arts and resources of wood-
craft, coupled with the excitement
incidental to contending against wild
beasts of the human kind — men of
special cunning, pluck, and cruelty.

This scouting, to be successful,
necessitated one's going with the
very slenderest escort — frequently
with one man only, to look after the
horses — and for long distances away
from our main body, into the dis-
tricts occupied by the enemy. Thus,
one was thrown entirely on one's
own resources, with the stimulating
knowledge that if you did not main-
tain a sufficient alertness of observa-
i8

SPORT IN WAR
tion and action, you stood a very
good chance indeed, not only of
failing to gain information which
you were desired to seek, but also of
getting yourself wiped out, as many
a better man had been before, by the
ruthless, bloodthirsty foe.

*' Spooring," or tracking, was our
main source of guidance and infor-
mation, and night the cover under
which we were able to make our way
about the enemy's country with im-
punity. For a pastime involving all
the points that go to make up
" sport " in the eyes of the Briton —
viz., hard work, adventure, general
discomfort, and genuine fun — com-
mend me to scouting.

Then the actual tackling the enemy
was not, especially during the latter
19

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SPORT IN WAR

part of the operations, of the cut-
and-dried order of tactics. There
was no drawing up of opposing
forces in battle-array, or majestic ad-
vancing of earth-shaking squadrons
to the clash of arms ; but you had to
approach a koppie or peak of piled-
up granite boulders, where not an
enemy was visible, but which you
knew was honeycombed with caves
and crannies all full of watching
niggers fingering guns of every kind
and calibre. You were expected to
climb up this loopholed pyramid to
gain the entrance to its caves, which
was somewhere near the top, as a
rule, and if you were lucky enough
to escape an elephant bullet from one
side or another, or a charge of slugs
from a crevice underfoot, you had

SPORT IN WAR
the privilege of firing a few shots
down the drain-like entrance to the
cave, and of then lowering yourself
quickly after them into the black un-
certainty below. Although I never
appreciated this form of sport at its
proper worth, there were many in
our forces who did. It cannot be
denied that there was a ''glorious
uncertainty " about it, such as could
not be surpassed in any other variety
of amusement.

Then, when the enemy had been
hard hit and driven from their posi-
tions, it became necessary to hunt
them up with flying patrols and
small columns. This took us into
wild and distant corners of the
country, and, until their surrender
was obtained, this man-hunting

21

SPORT IN WAR
afforded us plenty of excitement and
novel experience.

In addition to military operations
such as these, we saw something of
the actual sport proper of the country,
since supplies, especially of meat,
were very scarce with us. Therefore
the game-laws were by special ordin-
ance suspended, and we availed our-
selves of every opportunity to get
buck or other food. In many dis-
tricts we found it sufficiently abun-
dant, while in others the fatal scourge
of rinderpest had done its work —
especially among the koodoo — and
had decimated the former troops of
game.

We got, at various times, koodoo,
sable, and roan antelope, wildebeeste,
hartebeeste, reit-buck, stein-buck,

22

SPORT IN WAR
duyker, hares, wild-pig, quagga, and
twice our patrols saw giraffe. Then
of birds we saw ostriches and shot
paauw, korhan, so-called pheasants,
partridges, guinea-fowl, duck, and
plover. And in many of the streams
the men caught fish, which, though in
London they might be considered
somewhat overcharged with bones
and mud, yet served as a pleasing
variation to our daily fare of tinned
ration beef.

The pleasures of the pursuit of
game were all the more enhanced by
the knowledge that the meat was
really necessary to us, and especially
by the fact that we often carried out
our sport at the risk of being our-
selves the quarry of some sneaking
band of rebel warriors.

23

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SPORT IN WAR
Moreover, to all our fun a season-
ing was added in the shape of lions,
whose presence or propinquity was
very frequently impressed upon us
at nights by deep-toned grunts or
ghostly apparitions within the halo
of our watchfires. In defiance of
the rules of war — which forbid the
use of fires by night, as guiding an
enemy's night attack— we had a ring
of bright fires burning round our
bivouac to scare away the lions.
Frequently our sentries fired upon
them as they kept a waiting watch,
prowling from point to point outside
our line of men. But, in spite of
such precautions, on one occasion
they took one of our horses, and on
another they carried off a mule.
By day we saw them too. One

SPORT IN WAR
patrol, indeed, came upon a group
of nine lying dozing in the bush ;
and when the nine arose and yawned
and stretched their massive jaws and
limbs, the patrol, remembering the
old maxim concerning the rela-
tions between discretion and valour,
changed the course of their advance
and took another line.

One time, when I was patrolling
the bank of the Shangani River with
three men, the massive form of a
lion was seen slowly moving over
the boulders of the river-bed. The
corporal and I jumped off our horses
in a moment, and fired a volley a
deux, at about i8o yards. One shot
thudded into him, the other striking
the ground just under his belly. He
sprang with a light bound over a rock
27

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^«^

SPORT IN WAR
and disappeared from our view.
Posting one man on a high point on
the bank to watch the river-bed, and
leaving the other in charge of our
horses, the corporal and I made our
way down to where we had last seen
the lion. We were armed with Lee-
Metford carbines, and we turned on
our magazines in order to have a
good running fire available should
our quarry demand it.

Meantime our main body, coming
along the opposite bank of the river,
had seen our manoeuvre, and an
officer and one man had come down
into the river-bed from their side to
help us.

Gradually and cautiously we sur-
rounded the spot where we guessed
the lion to be — cautiously, at least,
«8

SPORT IN WAR

as far as three of us were concerned;
the fourth, the man who had come
from the main body, was moving
in a far freer and more confident
manner than any of us could boast ;
he clambered over the rocks and
sprang with agility into the most
likely corners for finding a wounded
lion lying ambushed, and his sole
weapon was his revolver — for he was
a farrier. Such is Tommy Atkins ;
whether it is the outcome of sheer
pluck, or of ignorance, or of both
combined, the fact remains that he
will sail gaily in where danger lies,
and as often as not sail gaily out
again unharmed.

However, to continue : at last we
were on the spot, but no lion was
there — an occasional splash of blood,
29

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SPORT IN WAR
and here and there, where sand lay
between the rocks, the impress of a
mighty paw, showed that he had
moved away after being hit. But
soon all traces ceased, and though
we searched for long we could find
no further sign of him.

We halted on the river-bank during
the intense heat of the day, and before
resuming our march in the evening
we sallied out once more to search
the river-bed and an islet grown with
bushes, where we hoped he might
yet be. And while we searched the
hussar, who had been assigned to
me to hold my horse, and who was
^ the man who, in the morning, had
been posted to watch the river-bed,
asked, " How many lions are there
supposed to be here ? " I told him
30

f .Aj ^

SPORT IN WAR
"Only the one we fired at this
morning."

Whereupon he grimly said, " Oh,
I saw him go away up the river when
you went down into it. He was a-
dragging his hindquarters after him."

It appeared that the man thought
he had been posted to guard against
surprise by an enemy, and did not
realise that we, being down among
the rocks, could not see the lion
which was so visible from his look-
out place. And so we lost that lion.

But I had better luck another
time.

It stands thus recorded in my
diary : *

** loth October. — (To be marked

* Vide " The Matabele Campaign, 1896,"
same writer.

33

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>i-r

SPORT IN WAR
with a red mark when I can get a
red pencil.) Jackson and a native
' boy ' accompanied me scouting this
morning ; we three started off at
3 A.M. In moving round the hill
that overlooks our camp we saw a
match struck high up near the top
of the mountain. This one little
spark told us a good deal. It showed
that the enemy were there ; that they
were awake and alert (I say *they/
because one nigger would not dare
to be up there by himself in the dark) ;
and they were aware of our force
being at Posselt's (as otherwise they
would not be occupying this hill).

'^ However, they could not see any-
thing of us, as it was then quite dark.
And we went farther on among the
mountains. In the early morning
34

<-^^^-

:«^^ i

SPORT IN WAR
light we crossed the deep river-bed
of the Umchingwe River, and, in
doing so, noticed the fresh spoor of
a Hon in the sand. We went on and
had agood look at the enemy's strong-
hold ; and on our way back, as we
approached this river-bed, agreed to
go quietly, in case the lion should
be moving about in it. On looking
down over the bank, my heart jumped
into my mouth when I saw a grand
old brute just walking in behind a
bush. Jackson did not see him, but
was off his horse as quickly as I was,
and ready with his gun : too ready,
indeed, for the moment that the lion
appeared, walking majestically out
from behind the bush that had hidden
him, Jackson fired hurriedly, striking
the ground under his foot, and, as we

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■^i^-^^m

^1.

SPORT IN WAR
afterwards discovered, knocking off
one of his claws.

"The Hon tossed up his shaggy
head and looked at us in dignified
surprise. Then I fired and hit him
with a leaden bullet from the Lee-
Metford. He reeled, sprang round,
and staggered a few paces, when
Jackson, who was using a Martini-
Henry, let him have one in the
shoulder. This knocked him over
sideways, and he turned about,
growling savagely.

" I could scarcely believe that we
had got a lion at last, but resolved to
make sure of it ; so, telling Jackson
not to fire unless it was necessary
(for fear of spoiling the skin with the
larger bullet of the Martini), I went
down closer to the beast and fired a
36

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iV'""*

HE TURNED

ABOUT, GROWLING SAVAGELY

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SPORT IN WAR
shot at the back of his neck as he
turned his head momentarily away
from me. The bullet went through
his spine and came out through the
lower jaw, killing him.

" We were pretty delighted at our
success, but our nigger was mad with
happiness, for a dead lion — provided
he is not a man-eater — has many
invaluable gifts for a Kaffir, in the
shape of love-philtres, charms against
disease or injury, and medicines that
produce bravery. It was quite de-
lightful to shake hands with the
mighty paws of the dead lion, to
pull at his magnificent tawny mane,
and to look into his great, deep,
yellow eyes. Then we set to work
to skin him ; two of us skinning
while the other kept watch in case
39

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SPORT IX WAR

of the enemy sneaking up to catch
us while we were thus occupied.
We found that he was very fat, and
also that he had been much wounded
by porcupines, portions of whose
quills had pierced the skin, and
lodged in his flesh in several places.
Our nigger cut out the eyes, gall-
bladder, and various bits of the lion's
anatomy, as fetish medicine. I filled
my carbine-bucket with some of the
fat, as I knew my two 'boys,' Diamond
and M'tini, would very greatly value
it. Then, after hiding tlie head in a
neighbouring bush where we could
find it again, we packed the skin on
to one of the ponies and returned
to camp mightily pleased with our-
selves."

40

A RUN WITH THE CAPE
FOXHOUNDS

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A RUN WITH THE CAPE
FOXHOUNDS

HE setting sun is slowly
withdrawing his broad
warm hand from off
the land as we steam
out by the evening train from the
chill and darkling shadow of Table
Mountain, and rattle off across the
" Flats " for the hunting - ground
beyond.

Our Colonial railway system may
not be so speedy as those at home,
but it is infinitely more advanced in

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A RUN WITH THE

one particular : its hunting rates for
horses, hounds, and men are of the
very lowest. Therefore, with bless-
ings on a directorate so sporting,
we seldom fail to largely patronise
the rail for hunting meets. But to-
night we are not many in the train ;
besides the Master and myself (who
act as whip) there are no members
of the hunt aboard. To-morrow a
new Governor is to arrive from
England, and all the garrison must
be there to see him safely in. But,
in order that the farmers of the
district may not miss their fun, a
special dispensation from parade has
been granted to the Master and
myself, and thus we find ourselves
travelling forth to take up our night's
quarters at Maasfontein, in readiness
44

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CAPE FOXHOUNDS
for daybreak hunting ere the dew
has left the grass and the sun has
parched the scent.

In less than an hour we have
reached the lonely little station,
and, after disembarking hounds and
horses, we jog away in the gathering
darkness over the two miles that
separate us from the village. Our
baggage we carry with us, as the
custom of the country is, in saddle-
bags. In a hollow in the open
downs we come upon the viDage,
and as we pass its single, long, tree-
shaded street, the men and house-
wives peer out from their lamplit
doors. We lodge both hounds and
horses in the stables of the single-
storeyed village inn, and here we find
a number of our hunting farmers

I'r

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A RUN WITH THE
who have come over in their wag-
gons for the meet ; for every Dutch-
man's waggon forms his travelling
home for markets, meets, or fairs.
And, while we tackle supper, they sit
around and smoke, and talk of what
the sport will be.

What quaint old fellows are these
rugged bearded Dutchmen ! Slow,
well-nigh to denseness, outwardly,
yet in reality full of sporting in-
stinct, and also quick enough to see
and to resent any display of English
hauteur or attempt to patronise.
They have simply to be treated as
equals and as friends ; the true free-
masonry of sport will do the rest.
It is a pleasure to see how their dull
faces can light up and their whole
demeanour change as they begin to
46

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CAPE FOXHOUNDS

talk on sport. After giving a hopeful ^
view of prospects for the morrow, ^,
the conversation turns on other Hues, '^
and soon we are thrilled with vivid ,^
tales of bygone days when lions and S
tuskers formed the quarry in these -
same districts, where now we scarce
can find a jackal.

But these sportsmen are not late
sitters, and just as one is beginning
to think whether it is quite good
enough to hear another lion story at
the risk of being asphyxiated with
the reek of gin and Boer tobacco,
they rise, and, with their hoarse
''Goode-nachts," they clatter out into
the darkness towards their several
travelling bedrooms. Nor do we long
outsit them, for, as the pig-sticking
song says,

47

2«K^o,s\

M

WJk

RUN WITH THE

To-morrow, by dawn, we must be on our
ground.

After a final sup of whisky from our
private stock, and a glance round
the stable and the temporary kennel
in the wash-house, we turn into
our beds in the one bare empty
room.

Our sleep is soon slept. The un-
rest natural to night before a hunting
day, like John Peel's cry, soon *^ calls
me from my bed," and I slip out and
indulge in a glorious "tub'' in the
horse-trough in front of the inn. It
is just daybreak, or, as the Dutchmen
term it, "the light for seeing the
horns of an ox " ; a glow is in the
sky behind the eastward hills, and on
the village camp-ground the twin-
kling fires show that the farmers'
48

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CAPE FOXHOUNDS

^^boys" are preparing the morning
coffee.

An hour later this same camp-
ground, or " uitspan/' as it is called,
is the scene of our meet.

The farmers soon join us, mounted
on their wiry unkempt little horses,
their rusty bits and stirrups being as
unlike the turn-out of the English
hunting-field as are the riders' cor-
duroy trousers, hobnailed boots, and
wide flapping hats. But, dirty and
ragged though they be, the horses
are both clever and quick in bad
ground, and wiry and enduring to
an extent that would hardly be
expected from their narrow chests
and quarters ; while the riders, stolid
and grumpy as is their demeanour,
will rouse up like schoolboys and go

A RUN WITH THE

with the keenest when once there is
fox afoot.

Cups of coffee from the ox-dung
camp-fires are passed around, and
then the everlasting pipes come out
and are filled by the simple method
of plunging them into the capacious
coat-pocket, which is kept filled with
loose "Boer" tobacco. The strong
aroma hangs as heavily as its blue
smoke on the raw morning air, and
promises a fine scenting morning as
we trot away from the uitspan towards
our hunting-ground.

Our hounds would perhaps look
strange at home — their best admirer
could scarcely call them a level lot ;
but this need not be wondered at
when it is remembered that we have
to take what we can get from kind-
50

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sirf'-*^"'"^^-^ "

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CAPE FOXHOUNDS

hearted Masters all over England.
The fatal "dog-sickness" of South
Africa plays such havoc in the course
of a season as to necessitate a fresh
draft from home everyyear. Shipping
charges are very high, and the funds
of the hunt are per contra very low,
so it is not surprising that our pack
is a somewhat mixed one. But,
although "a rum 'un to look at," it
is a "good 'un to go," and every
hound in it, this fine huntingmorning,
looks hard and fit for anything.

At their head rides our Master, as
fine a specimen of the British soldier-
sportsman as you would meet in a
day's march. (Poor Turner ! he
gave up the hounds not long after
the day I am here describing, and
he now lies buried on the banks of

A RUN WITH THE

the Sabi, away there beyond Masho-
naland.)

Beside myself rides George, our
whip, a Cape lad of nondescript
breed, but especially useful in our
hunting-field from his proficiency in
the art of *' spooring" or tracking
the jackal over the frequent sand
patches, which do not carry scent.

As we rise the hill above the village
the neighbouring country unfolds
itself before us in a succession of
undulations of grass and fallow land
and occasional patches of low scrub
and heather. There are no fences
beyond occasional boundary banks,
drainage ditches, and dry water-
courses. Away to the east and
north the downs run up into moun-
tains, while to the westward lie the
54

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CAPE FOXHOUNDS
" Flats/' sandy heath-covered plains,
some eight miles in extent, with the
grey-blue mass of Table Mountain
rising stark and sheer from out the
sea beyond them.

Look where you will — except for
two or three widely distant clumps
of trees, with their white farm-
buildings among them — there is
little to show that the country is a
populous colony. Most of the farms
and villages, being built near water,
lie hidden in the folds of the ground.

The long, broad shadows cast by
the rising sun across the dewy downs
are slowly growing shorter as we jog
along towards the dark heath-grown
hillside that is our first cover. But
ere we reach it a fresh delay occurs.
Over the brow before us there rise
55 g

A RUN WITH THE

first the white tilt and then the
nodding horses of a "Cape cart"
trotting fast to meet us. Within it
is De VilHers, or, as the rest pro-
nounce it, "Filjee," a sporting-hearted
farmer, who, although he does not
ride himself, loves to see others do
it boldly if not well, and to that end
he never fails to bring a good supply
of "jumping powder" and other
similar aids to horsemanship.

In the present case this diversion
is particularly conducive to sport, as
it serves to keep our usually over-
energetic field well occupied while
hounds are drawing cover. The
Master waves them in, and George
and I take up our places at opposite
corners to view the fox away. From
where I stand below the crest I see
56

CAPE FOXHOUNDS

but little of the cover and of hounds
at work within it, but other entertain-
ment comes to me. Anon there is
the slightest rustle in the bush, and
stealthily a hare slips out and squats
quite motionless a few yards from
me ; she hearkens backward, her
great dark eyes bright-glistening in
the sunlight ; then she turns and
hunches in again, but a minute later
the Master's cheering voice again
sends her palpitating on to the open ;
a moment's pause, and then away
she lits adown the slope and scampers
off to other hiding-places. Now
creeping up towards me, close along
the heather's edge, there comes a
string of brown-grey partridges all
scuttling fast in frightened hurry. I
wonder who gives them their orders ?

A RUN WITH THE
They act upon them instantaneously.
"Halt!" they all crouch. "Heads
up ! " " Fly ! " Whirr ! and the whole
brown covey are off together down
across the ravine ; then, with stiffened
wings, they rise the other slope : a
sudden wheel, then slide up and up
the grassy shoulder without a single
flutter till they overtop

Hark — a whimper! No — yes —
another ! Followed by the anxious
cry of others owning to it.

"Tally-ho! Gone away!"
screeches George at the bottom
corner.

With a horse like my old "Toulon,"
who knows his business, my shortest
way is smack through the cover. So
into it we go ; plunging here, jump-
ing there, through the heavy heath
58

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CAPE FOXHOUNDS
and scrub. As we come over the
hill-top the fun is spread before us.
Just in time we are to view him cross
the ridge in front — a fine old fox,
looking somewhat like the little rover
of Old England, but, being longer in
the leg, he does not stretch himself
so close along the ground.

Hounds in cheery chorus are
stretching after him, gleaming white
and mottled on the green grass slope.
And George, not far behind them, in
his pink and leathers, riding a bright
bay gelding, completes a hunting
picture of the brightest colouring,
that in the instant photographs itself
upon the mind.

And now the Master is through the
brook-bog in the bottom, and in our
turn we scramble through, bringing
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A RU.N WITH THE
on the last tail hounds from out the
cover. Then, while we breast the
slope, a backward glance shows all
our motley field are tearing down to
follow us. Now we top the rise and
find an open stretch before us ; scent
is good, and hounds are racing well
together. 'Tis grand to gallop thus
over such good ground, with hounds
lying well away before us, and the
field coming equally well behind ;
while the keen morning air, lighten-
ing up the lungs to the extremity of
buoyancy, gives one a taste of life
that is divine.

The going is chiefly rough, long
grass, whose only fault is treachery,
in the shape of "ant-bear holes."
These are the burrows of the ant-
eater, more commonly known as the

63

^

CAPE FOXHOUNDS
ant-bear or ardvark (^^ earth-hog").
Luckily, they are not in this district
so plentiful as in Natal and Zululand ;
and yet one hole is quite enough to
spoil your hunting for the day, if not
for ever. The ant-heaps, too, are
obstacles, but honest ones, because
they are not invisible. But on we
fly, as though such things existed
not, and the pace is good enough to
take us clean away from all our
following ; but, luckily for them,
before we've had two miles of this
most glorious burst, a cowboy heads
the fox. He turns his line and takes
adown a valley to our left, and here
he finds a thick and scrubby cover
from which lead many blind ravines.
A check, while hounds endeavour
to worry out the line, gives pause for
63

A RUN WITH THE
the field to come bustling up. Then
some dismount to ease their blowing
nags, while others ride around to

help, as they suppose, the non-
plussed hounds. Their noisy babel,
as they talk about the run and chaff
late-comers, would annoy one were
it not so ludicrous to see how much
a gallop moves these Dutchmen from
their cold stolidity.

Now one young hand, supposing
all is over, off-saddles, as his custom
is, and leaves his horse to roll ; but
at that moment hounds once more
hit off the line, and helter-skelter, off
we pelt, leaving this young man to
gain experience. Onward down the
long hillside we press, now bending
right, now swinging left, but ever
edging on towards the " Flats." A
64

"^

CAPE FOXHOUNDS
ditch and boundary bank next cause
some grief, and farther on an ugly
dry ravine brings down the Master
and turns a large proportion of the
field to seek another way.

Hounds now are tailing off a bit.
Young Ranger leads the rest, as is his
wont, by quite a hundred yards :
he's far too fast, but we cannot well
afford to trim our pack, else might
we well dispense with Colleen, too —
a small dark bitch, whose only place
is at the Master's heels ; and even
when he's down, she waits to see him
safely up again.

Our fox now runs us through a
farmstead, where, among the cattle-
kraals, we get some stone-wall lep-
ping. At length we reach the tract
of heath and dunes that forms the
65

A RUN WITH THE

" Flats/' and scent falls light and
catchy. Slow hunting here becomes
the order of the day, with now and
then a sudden burst along some
grassy bottom. The field, though
much reduced in numbers, is more
than ever keen, and follows close —
too close — upon the hounds.

" Now, Wanderer, my lad, what is
it ? Lame ? " No, worse 1 Ay,
poor old hound, he leaves the line,
with drooping head and stern, and
walks aside, just glancing up, as if to
say, " Don't mind me, old friend, go
on and see it out " ; and he flings
himself, quite helpless, down behind
a bush. A little Kaffir tending cows
close by agrees to nurse him, and, if
he lives, to bring him home ; but
the hunt will never see old Wanderei
66

CAPE FOXHOUNDS
again. Dog-sickness always for its
victims seems to take the best.

With sorrow at my heart, I push
along to overtake the bobbing crov;d
in front, and find them checked
beside a stretch of open sand. Here
all scent fails, and George, on foot,
is taking up the spoor, hounds
following in an interested group.
Upon the sand the tracks show
where the fox has stopped to listen
and then has doubled on his trail.
Into the bush once more, and —
Tally-ho ! — he jumps up right before
us. What a screech of men and
hounds ! Old Piet Nielmann rushes
past me, lambasting his fully-blown
horse with a heavy sjambok, till a
sturdy tussock stretches both the
rider and his horse upon the sand.
67

A RUN WITH THE
The crowd go racing on. Over
yonder rise our fox is viewed ; a
minute later we are there, and see
the fun below. He doubles in some
grass, and round the beauties come,
just like a flock of pigeons wheeling
— a crash, a snarl, and they roll him
over in the bottom. Whowhoop I

And while he is broken up in the
good old way, the knot of panting
men and horses is gradually added
to by stragglers coming up to join
the chatter and the talk about the
run.

Then pipes are lit, and, in the best
of moods, we make our way once
more towards the upland, where the
farm of ^^ Filjee " stands out white
upon the hillside, bare except for
this one group of trees and build-
68

M./J^-

''f^fo^.

GEOKGE ACTING AS LEADING HOUND

SC.-;

CAPE FOXHOUNDS
ings. On drawing near we find a
plain-faced single-storeyed house,
with windows blinded by a formal
row of pollard-trees set close in front.
Upon the stoep or terrace-step, De
Villiers and his frau receive us.
Within the steamy room (whose
windows never open) we find a
plentiful repast laid out, of beef,
black bread, and succotash, backed
by an imposing display of bottles
.. holding "square-face" gin, pontac,
. and van-der-Hum. But little time is
lost in reconnoitring this formidable
array, and our hungry sportsmen
spring to the attack as hounds from
leash. Once at it, they are fixed.
Still, we know the scent which has
favoured us so far may not last all ^^p
day, so, after a welcome snack and a
71

A RUN WITH THE
toast to our sporting entertainer, a
few of us move out to go afield
again. But not so the majority :
with them the lunch is half the
hunt : they feel they've had their
run, and now enjoy its complement.
So as we jog away to covers
higher in the hills, we find our field
reduced to three, and those three
not likely, with their overweighted
mounts, to carry on for long if the
run has any pace. At the cross a
spruit running out of a little bushy
glen, hounds suddenly break and
feather on a trail, and, bustling up
the ravine, they pick up a gradually
improving scent. Forrard ! Forrard !
On to a long swelling down we go,
over the level for a space, and then a
heavy breather up to the top ; those

V

^

^^m

CAPE FOXHOUNDS

whose mounts are well shouldered
have the best of it striding down the
further slope. Through a network
of dry watercourses, where the scent
falls light, they hit it off on a grand
level plateau beyond. Then we get
a real good ding-dong gallop that
soon polishes off our little field,
and leaves us three alone to follow
hounds, while praying that we too
may not get left. The line has led
us straight, without a swerve, towards
a conical hill, whose pointed heath-
clad top has often served us for a
landmark ; and hounds are tailing
out a bit on the lower slopes as the
line takes us round its base. Now
Ranger, who is far ahead, swerves
suddenly, then circles round, the
others cast about. A check at last !
73

pjiar-^'i^sfe':

^

A RUN WITH THE

the first in thirty minutes. Ranter
has it ! but for a moment only ; he
brings it up a watercourse, and
there's the earth before us in an
overhanging bank.

It should be an easy one to dig,
" had we but weapons handy." And
so they are. Over the next rise
there peeps some trees— the trees of
Swartzkop Farm. George canters
off, and soon is back with pick and
spade. We link our three horses all
together with their reins, and, while
George and I proceed to dig, the
Master holds the pack away.

Quick work we are making with
the bank when, without a moment's
warning, through a cloud of dust be-
tween us, there springs out the great
red " Jack," and flies away before

CAPE FOXHOUNDS
the very noses of the pack. For one
short instant they scarce reahse the
case, but then they swoop upon the
hne with a screaming chorus that
would wake the dead. Indeed, it
wakes something more important
than the dead : it causes our horses
to throw up their heads, and, with-
out a moment's hesitation, to start in
pursuit, in no Httle gaiety of heart at
finding themselves without the usual
burden of their riders. Helplessly
we, in our turn, start to follow ; but
they are streaming away over the
shoulder before us, while we, pound-
ing in our top-boots through heavy
grass and heather, find ourselves
well pumped within a hundred
yards. The hounds are gone, the
horses top the sky-line, still tied head
75 D

7^

A RUN WITH THE
to head, but galloping with all their
might ; they disappear, and after
them, more faithful to the Master's
horse than Master, there goes Col-
leen. They're gone ! We pause, and,
blowing hard, we make a few appro-
priate remarks. And then we turn
to climb the peak in hopes, at least,
of seeing how the hunt may end.
We struggle up and clamber, none
the better for our boots and spurs
and feverish haste. Anon we pause
for breath, when lo, behind us, the
fox is pounding heavily up the hill !
He has completely circled round it,
and again is making for the earths
that lie beside us. But close upon
his brush there follows Ranger, ever
to the fore, with all the ruck not
many yards behind. Now Ranger's
76

■■■■

^m

CAPE FOXHOUNDS

almost on him ; he turns upon his
foe.

Each rears on end with an angry
worry at the other's throat, but in a
second more the white and mottled
avalanche is on them, and it is a
struggling mass of tugging, growling
hounds that we spring into with
"Who whoop!"

THE ORDEAL
OF THE SPEAR

jN the deep shade of a
mango tope, in the
Meerut Kadir, a camp
was pitched for the
Christmas pig-sticking meet. Among
some adjoining trees a few more
tents formed the temporary home of
some ladies who had come out to
the jungle to witness the sport.

Among these were Edna Clay and
her mother.

(Had they been English people
83

KS<

tm

THE ORDEAL
I should possibly have referred to
them in the reverse order ; but
with Americans the relative import-
ance of the members of a family is,
as a rule, in an inverse ratio to that
which obtains in England. The
American fathers and brothers come
at the back-end of the list, while the
daughter of the house leads at the
head.)

The Clays had been wintering in
Meerut, where the good climate and
the social cheeriness of the large
military station contributed to make
it an agreeable substitute for the
usual Continental watering - places
that form the habitat of Americans
blizzarded out of their own country.

Having many friends among the
6th Hussars at Meerut, the ladies had
84

OF THE SPEAR
been readily persuaded to come and
try what camp life was like, and to
see a little of this wonderful sport
which they found from experience
was apt to draw men away from their
most solemn engagements. " Pig-
sticking" was a talisman that appa-
rently entitled men to break off an
acceptance to dinner, or to disappear
in the middle of a dance, to drive off
in their dak gharri to some distant
meet.

The light rains which usually fell
about Christmas-time had not come,
consequently in the middle of the
day the sun was powerful, and pig-
sticking was only carried out in the
mornings and afternoons.

To-day, although none of the heat
of the midday sun was able to pene-
85

THE ORDEAL
trate through the massive foliage of
the mango-trees and the double fly
of the roomy tent beneath them,
Miss Edna seemed in a restless
mood. She could not sit down to
write, as her mother did, long screeds
to their men-kind at home, nor was
she gifted with the power to sketch
the sunny view outside their door ;
her banjo lay neglected in its case,
and the latest novels failed to-day to
attract her.

" What is it, my dear ? " asked
the patient mother for the fourth
time, looking up from her letter-
writing.

" It is this, mamma. I am not

going to leave India — I know it."

She was standing at the moment,

with her hands clasped behind her,

86

OF THE SPEAR

staring out at the sunlit scene ; then
she turned suddenly to her mother,
and with unwonted vehemence ex-
claimed, ^^ I've been a fool. I can-
not help it. I have let myself fall in
love. I never thought about it — I

never foresaw it. And now " she

paused, looking out again across the
sea of yellow grass.

Her mother had laid aside her pen
and taken of¥ her glasses, scarcely
surprised, but beaming, anxious to
hear more. "Well, my dear, and
why not ? I have long seen how he
admires you. And as for not leaving
India — that would be about the first
thing you would do. He has told
me how he wants to retire from the
army as soon as he can get a good
excuse — to go and live in his own
87

'^g^^,um»immmmmm

THE ORDEAL
family mansion, a superb place from
what "

" Mamma/' interrupts poor Edna,
almost tearfully, ** it is not ^ the
Devil ' I am in love with — I wish it
were ! It is the ' Deep C. ! ' "

To say that she was taken aback
would scarcely express the state of
mind into which Mrs. Clay was
thrown by this avowal. In vain she
sought for words to express her pro-
test ; this match between her daughter
and the Honourable Jack Austin,
better known among his friends as
^* the Devil," she had fondly pictured
to herself, and secretly and very
cautiously had furthered to the best
of her ability. For what other reason
had she, at her time of life, left the
comforts of a well-ordered house in
88

OF THE SPEAR

Meerut for the unknown ills of camp
life, but that Jack Austin would be
of the party of pig-stickers in whose
company she and Edna were to be
thrown ? Her dream, which had
seemed about to culminate in reality,
had been shattered at one blow, and
she could scarcely for the moment
realise the fact.

^^And the ^ Deep C too— of all
people!" This was Major Calvert
of the 6th, a dark, handsome, but
taciturn man. "Whatever could Edna
see in him ? " were points that sug-
gested themselves to her mind.

"But, my dear child," she urged
aloud, considerately putting in the
second place that which she con-
sidered very much in the first,
" Major Calvert is so— so staid ; and
89

m

THE ORDEAL
Mr. Austin is Lord Ravensham's
heir, you know."

^^ I know, I know all that. And I
like 'the Devil' better than I liked
any one before. He is, for one thing,
a gentleman. Only yesterday he was
telling me all about his home and his
people. His mother and sisters must
be sweet. And I thought then how
lovely it would be — but to-day, I see
that it is impossible."

Edna here sank down into a low
chair, and, after toying for an instant
with a paper-knife, resumed her
troubled gaze on the distant scene,
resting her chin upon her hand.

The mother, in her confusion of
mind, remained silent, and the girl
presently continued her almost sad
confession.

90

i

m

ism

W^0,

i

OF THE SPEAR

" Yes ; I had always looked on
Major Calvert as the best of my
friends, as he was Mr. Austin's.
Indeed," she added, with a slight
laugh, " I would almost sooner have
gone to him for advice in a difficulty
than to you, mamma. With him I
always felt that I was with an old
friend. To-day, coming back from
pig-sticking on the elephant with
him, I was chaffing him for being so
staid, when in reality his mind is full
of fun. Then I saw a look cross his
eyes that made me ask — without
thinking — if he was in any trouble.
He told me then the sad sorrowful
little story of his life, which he has
never spoken of, even to Mr. Austin.
And when he told me that it was my
kindness and sympathy had drawn
91

THE ORDEAL

him out, I thought what a prize he
would be to any one as her helpmeet
for life. Now I know that I love him
as I never cared for any man before.
And yet " — with a fluttering sigh of a
laugh — " I suppose he would not
look at me ! "

In the meantime, while this con-
versation was going on between Mrs.
Clay and her daughter, in the neigh-
bouring camp Jack Austin and di-
vert were, by way of smoking to-
gether, in the latter's tent. I have
never heard who first called them^^the
Devil" and the ^'Deep Sea." Though
unlike each other in very many
ways, they were an unusually good
pair of friends. If you fell out with
one — which was not an easy thing
9»

?x^:

OF THE SPEAR

to do — you fell out with both. Jack
Austin, ''the Devil," was a cheery,
light-hearted, typical British sub-
altern, ready for any game that was
going, while Major Calvert, ''the
Deep C," though a keen sportsman
and full of dry and — what is not
always the same thing — kindly hu-
mour, was of a quiet disposition,
avoiding rather than courting society,
and was therefore credited with
having some character below the
surface. Many a man, indeed, has
passed as a clever one before the
world simply because he has been
^^: wise enough not to let out to what
extent he is a fool.

Why the two men should have
become such peculiarly good friends
it is difficult to see, as theoretically
93 E

^Svi

^M

^

THE ORDEAL

like to the like is the proper apposi-
tion ; but, as a matter of fact, this
does not work out in practice, where
Hke with the unhke very often hit
it off completely and satisfactorily.
Such had, in fact, happened in this
case.

In their tent this morning, after
the events of the morning's pig-
sticking had been discussed, there
had been very little conversation
between them ; both had sat silently
smoking for some time, which, after
all, is the way of good friends. Sud-
denly the Devil broke the silence by
exclaiming, " Look here, Bloggs " —
Bloggs was the name by which he
usually addressed Major Calvert
when not on parade — " I am tired of
soldiering. I've hung on a bit hoping
94

OF THE SPEAR
to see a little service, but British
cavalry seem to be too carefully
bottled up nowadays for one to have
a chance of it. You have been lucky,
and so, perhaps, you can't enter into
my feelings. But that's how it is,
and I'm going to send in my
papers ! "

" My dear chap, I quite agree with
you about our fine old crusted
cavalry, but a day may yet come !
And besides, I don't see exactly why
this sudden resolution, noWy with the
pig-sticking and polo tournament
just coming on. You haven't had to
do orderly officer *more than three
days a week on an average,' as Mr.
Glimmer would say — what has put
your back up ? "

"Nothing has put my back up.
95

THE ORDEAL
It's the other way. I'm going to ask
Miss Clay to be my wife."

"Good heavens!" This came
with so sharp a change of tone
from Calvert that Austin almost
jumped round in his chair to look
at him.

" What is it, old chap ? Do you
know anything against it ? " cried
Austin.

" No — at least, not exactly— except
that — well, I had intended to do the
same thing myself."

"You I"

" Yes, but it never struck me that
you were meaning anything that way.
I never thought "

Then both relapsed into silence
for a moment, till Austin summed up
the situation with the remark :
96

A VETERAN HAND AT THE GAME

OF THE SPEAR

" Well, by gum, we are in a queer
hat ! What is to be done ? "

There was then a silence for so
.long that Austin, coming back to
the actual situation first, exclaimed,
" Bloggs, are you asleep ? " Calvert,
who was lying back in an armchair,
no longer smoking, merely flung
back the word with some scorn in
his tone, " A-sleep ! "

The Devil, finding that he had an
audience, proceeded to give out his
views : "Well, I've been thinking it
over, and I don't see a way out of the
difficulty. You haven't asked her,
you say ; have you broken ground at
all?"

" Yes, I have in a way broken the

ice.

" Well, then, we're no better off
99

•"E^

S^il

THE ORDEAL
than before. For I've been prepar-
ing her by telling her all about my
people and prospects, and so on,
though I've not asked her right out.
But it seems to me she is very young,
you know, and you're getting on a
bit "

^^ Thanks, Jack, but I'm not so old
as all that ; and even if she took a
man of my age, it would be better for
her than being shackled on to a
flighty young Devil Uke you."

The Devil gave up this argument
with a sigh, and lay back in his chair
with his arms behind his head, star-
ing at the ceiling for further inspira-
tion.

Presently Calvert continued : " No,
my boy, I am perfectly fixed on it.
But are you quite sure that you mean

100

^^

OF THE SPEAR

business ? May it not be with you
one of those fascinations which
you'll allow do come to you now and
then?"

" No ; in those affairs I never
speak of my people and prospects,"
retorted the Devil with proper pride.

'' Quite right. I even found a
difficulty in speaking of my pros-
pects, so gave her more of my past,
from which she could herself evolve
my character."

" Your past ! Oh, by George !
then I give in. A man with a past
is a hopeless chap to contend against.
A girl will jump at him like a trout
at a fly ; she don't care what his
future is likely to be provided he has
got a past. Well, it seems to me that
we are as we were."

lOI

%2

THE ORDEAL

" We shall have to leave it to her
to decide. But^ look here, it is tea-
time over there ; we ought to be
going. I don't see any use in cutting
each other's throats over it ; but it is
a hat ! "

A few minutes later they were
wending their way across to the
ladies' camp, when Austin, who had
been silent for some time, suddenly
stopped Calvert and excitedly began,
^* Bloggs, I see a way ! I was think-
ing how evenly matched we are at
this new game, just as we are said to
be at polo and pig-sticking. If we
leave the settlement of the thing to
her we shall be working against each
other all the time, we shall both ask
her, which will be very uncomfort-
able for her, and she'll have to say

102

!©

f^

RfeTS*

OF THE SPEAR
*No' to one of us, which will be

d d uncomfortable for him. One

is almost inclined to draw lots about
it, but that is so jolly unsatisfactory
for the loser. What do you say to
having a match after a pig, you and
I, and whoever wins to have first
right to ask her ? I'm lighter than
you, but then they say that a man
over thirty is better at pig-sticking
and polo than a young 'un, so that
about makes us level. Your little

Arab is "

Calvert, who had smiled curiously
at this new idea of the boy's, while
his eyes sparkled at the sporting
smack of it, now suddenly grasped
Jack's hand and laughingly said,
" Right you are, old boy ; let's have
it that way. The ordeal of the spear

m)

r-®}!^^

THE ORDEAL
shall decide who has the first right
to ask her."

That night at dinner it was known
that '' the Devil " and the " Deep C."
were to ride a match after pig for a
wager the following morning. An
umpire was detailed to start them
and to see fair play. Bets were
made among such sportsmen as were
that way inclined according to their
several fancies, but on every hand it
was admitted that there was not
much to choose between the two
competitors.

At an early hour the beat was
under way. The line of beaters was
backed up by an imposing show of
elephants. Upon these were mounted
most of the sportsmen who were
keen to see this match run off. In

104

OF THE SPEAR
front of the centre of the Une rode
Jack Austin on his keen Httle Waler
mare, " Lovelei/' and Major Calvert
on his Arab " Kismet/' and in close
attendance rode '^ old " Baynton, the
collector of the district, a veteran
hand at the game, and still hard to
beat as a straight-going, deadly man
after a pig.

The ladies were not yet out, but
an elephant had been left at their
camp to bring them on when ready.

The line slowly and quietly beat
its way through the long grass of the
Kadir plain, working gradually away
from the tree jungle and the nullahs
that fringe the edge of it. A few
small pig were soon afoot, but
nothing that Baynton considered
rideable.

105

2£)

THE ORDEAL

Suddenly there arises a loud yelling
from the beaters on the extreme
flank of the line. Old Lutchman,
the shikari, knowing of the match, is
for once in his life excited. Standing
on his elephant he holloas the party
on, " Wuh jata hat ! burra dant-
wallah I "

Baynton, clapping spurs to his
horse, leads the way in the direction
indicated, closely followed by the
two riders. In a minute or so he is
able to point out to them the form
of a fine young boar louping away
through the yellow grass, back in
the direction of the nullahs.

" Do you all see him ? " he cries :
^'then, ride!" And away go Jack
and Calvert with an even start.

The pig has got a good offing, and

OF THE SPEAR
is going at a very fair pace, so that
they have a long, straight gallop
before them to begin with. What
are their thoughts at this moment it
is hard to say, but possibly the sense
of the importance of the occasion is
already drowned in the more palpable
delight of a racing gallop with the
game in view.

That they are both putting on an
extra turn of speed is evident from
the way they are leaving old Baynton
behind, though he is by no means
undermounted. Gradually, however,
slowly and surely the weight begins
to tell, and Jack shows a little ahead
of his rival. Elated he presses on,
steadily improving his lead.

They are now nearing the boar,
and he, laying back his ears and
109

THE ORDEAL
giving a backward glance from the
tail of his eye, cracks on his better
pace and leads them a burster.

Closer and closer to him draws
Jack on Lovelei, with Calvert some
three or four lengths behind.

Now Jack gets ready his spear,
and letting in knees and spurs, lifts
Lovelei with a rush to the pig. At
the same time the boar seems for a
second to shorten his stride, but the
next moment, when the horse is at
its fastest and he at his most collected
pace, he suddenly shoots off at right
angles to his line, thereby gaining
several lengths before his pursuer
can turn. But this manoeuvre lets
up the second man ; Calvert, quickly
turning on to the new line, now
rides the boar. Gradually and

h;^M

OF THE SPEAR
steadily he comes up to him ; his
spear is ready ; the boar pricks his
ears and gallops high as he shortens
his stride. Calvert knows that a
"jink" is coming, collects his horse,
and is ready for it when the pig sud-
denly turns across his front. Round
he comes on the instant in the same
direction, and jack, who is close
behind, similarly turns to the left ;
but before they have gone two
strides the pig twists abruptly round
again and leaves them both several
lengths to the bad as once more he
heads for the nullahs.

Again it is a neck-and-neck race
between the two riders, Calvert hav-
ing a little the best of the start. In-
deed, it is a ding-dong race between
all three, for the boar has his head
III

BS^

THE ORDEAL

set for the tree-jungle, which is now
not far distant, and he knows that
there Hes his only chance of escape.
As they near the jungle, the ele-
phant bearing Miss Clay comes out
from among the trees, and she thus
has an excellent view of the race,
though little she knows how much
its issue may affect her own future.
Calvert is closing on the pig, and
another stride or two should land
him within spearing distance, when
suddenly — whether in a buffalo-
wallow or over a hard tussock —
Kismet pecks heavily, almost on to
his head; but though he recovers
himself in a trice, the momentary
check lets up Jack on Lovelei.
Nor is he slow to take his chance;
cramming his horse to the front with

OF THE SPEAR
one extra spurt, he comes on the pig
with a rush, and leaning low he
drives his spear-point into the burly
flank. It is not a good spear, but it
counts as ^' first."

At this moment for the first time
he sees that Miss Clay, now close
above them, is spectator of the
game. The magnitude of what he
had, in winning first spear, won,
now dawns upon him, and as he
tosses high his spear, his lungs give
vent to an ear-piercing " who-hoop "
of exultation.

Calvert, probably too engrossed in
the matter in hand to realise his loss,
dashes in, and with a crashing stroke
rolls the boar head over heels. But
the trees are near ; the pig is up
again and quickly in among them.
113 F

m

THE ORDEAL
Here he gains a little on the men
until an open glade is reached,
where, finding that they press him
still, he turns, and beginning with a
shambling trot, breaks into a gallop,
and with ears pricked and fire in his
eye comes in at the charge. It is
met with all the shock of a firmly
held spear and a fast-moving horse,
and he reels back repulsed but not
daunted ; a second time he hurls
himself against a foe, and a second
time the deadly spear crashes into
him. He can do no more. Dis-
abled, he sinks on his haunches, his
jaws, champing in anger, drop foam
and blood. As his enemies once
more approach he turns to face
them, his little eyes gleaming red
with rage, but he cannot rise, and a

11^

■Ji

<•

K

<

OF THE SPEAR
merciful spear through the heart
drops the gallant beast dead.

While Jack is loosing Lovelei's
girths, he feels a kindly pat on the
shoulder as Calvert says to him,
" Well done, old boy ; go in and try
your luck. It was a good run, wasn't

it?"

# « « *

As they led their tired horses
slowly back towards the open a
native came hurriedly towards them
from some neighbouring huts. With
a scared face he told his story.

In a few minutes they were stand-
ing beside the body as it lay upon
a common native charpoy. She
looked almost as if she were resting
after a bout of tennis. Her white
frock and gay silk blouse were fresh
117

ORDEAL OF THE SPEAR
and scarcely dishevelled ; but there
was an awkward uprightness about
the small brown shoes ; her form
seemed flattened down into the cot,
and the unnatural sternness about
the waxen face, with its half-closed
eyes and parted lips, showed that
Edna Clay was dead.

Her elephant, frightened at the
final rush and turmoil of the race,
had turned and fled among the trees,
to the instant destruction of the
howdah and its occupant.

<

o
o

|N the smoking-room at
Norreys Court, the ^
other night, we had ^
a great pig - sticking
" buck."

As is usual where a few Britons
are gathered together, several of the
party had visited India and knew
something of the subject, but it
struck me forcibly how ignorant,
as a rule, are home-keeping sports-
men of this and kindred Eastern
sports.

123

>^

!wj^

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
They seem to understand that
some sort of sunshine of sport Hes
behind the veil of distance which
separates England from India^ but it
is only occasionally that a ray breaks
through the cloud — in the shape of a
book or article — and gives them a
glint of the glamour that lies beyond.
India, in the matter of sport, has
stood the test of time far better
than any of her rivals. In early
ages India and America proved
equally attractive to adventurous
sportsmen. But in America bison,
grizzly, deer, and Redskin came to
be gradually and effectively wiped
out under the deadly bead-drawing
of " Old Rube " and his kind.

Then arose South Africa as a rival,
and although her day has been a
124

^

^

^

i

^

gs

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS

happy one, its sun is setting ; ere the
next century has well begun, ad-
vancing civilisation and improved
breechloaders will have cleared off
the elephant, rhino, lion, and buck
that have made Africa so happy a
hunting-ground these past sixty years.
Yet India still maintains her head
of game, and bids fair to do so for
many years to come. From the
North, with its Oves ammon and
poli, bears and ibex, to the South,
with its tiger, buffalo, sambur, and
boar, the sportsman finds game
worthy of his steel, in addition to
abundance of the lesser kind of
buck and bird, and fish and fowl.
But, as an old doggerel has it.

The sport that beats them o'er and o'er
Is that wherein we hunt the boar.

"<%^

S^^

wt

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
Pig-sticking is the acknowledged
king of Eastern sports, and there are
many reasons why it should and
must be so.

For one thing, it demands the
assistance of the horse, and this in
itself commends it more particularly
to the Anglo-Saxon race. Then it is
one of the few sports in which the
hunter is almost always associated
with others of his kind. In most
big-game expeditions the shooter is
attended only by a few trackers or
beaters — more guns would spoil
sport ; and, although there may be,
and is, a certain charm for a time in
such solitary life, yet eventually the
sportsman cannot but long for com-
panionship of his fellows in his
evening camp. Nor is it good for a
1^6

THE KING OF EASTERN SPORTS

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
man to become accustomed to a
solitary life ; Englishmen are already
misanthropical and reserved enough
in all conscience, without such fur-
ther training. In pig-sticking, on
the other hand, the hunters live,
and move, and hunt in parties ; and
yet individual excellence is as
necessary as ever to success,
while it gains the additional spice
born of friendly rivalry with one's
fellows.

Again, the risks and chances,
which after all form a great part
of the charm of most wild sports,
are in pig - sticking incomparably
greater than those in ordinary tiger-
shooting ; that is to say, tiger-shoot-
ing from an elephant, for I do not
look on that carried out on foot as

139

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
anything but foolhardiness, except
under special circumstances.

Moreover, the quarry is not only
fast and crafty, but he is also plucky,
powerful, and cruel ; he enters fully
into the spirit of the chase, and he
will generally give you a good fight
as well as a good run for your
money.

That pig- sticking has an affinity to
the sport of all true British sports-
men— viz., fox-hunting — cannot be
^^^ denied, but that there exists a neck-
and-neck resemblance between them
is not so easy to see. Yet much
midnight oil and gas, liquid and
tobacco smoke, have been consumed
in country-house billiard-rooms over
the discussion and comparison of
their respective merits.
130

m

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
As a matter of fact, pig-sticking
may equally claim an affinity with
polo and with racing. And to the
glorious attractions of these it adds
a taste of the best of all hunts —
namely, the pursuit, with a good
weapon in your hand, of an enemy
whom you want to kill.

In pig-sticking every man rides to
hunt, whereas in fox-hunting the
majority (although for some occult
reason they will seldom own to it)
hunt to ride. The first part of a pig-
sticking run partakes rather of the
nature of a point-to-point race, since
each man is endeavouring to be first
to come up with the pig, and so to
gain the honours of the run ; and,
while keeping one eye on the object
in view, he has to keep the other on
131

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS

the doings of his rivals, so far as the
elation of a glorious gallop will allow
him.

When the "first spear" has been
won, the dodging and turning and
quick rallies required for fighting the
boar have no little resemblance to
the galloping melee of the polo-field,
till, with your worser passions roused
as the grizzled old tusker pits himself
against you, you meet charge with
charge, and, blind to all else but the
strong and angered foe before you,
with your good spear in your hand,
you rush for blood with all the ecstasy
of a fight to the death. And then :

All's blood, and dust, and grunted curses.

Well — this is a different thing from

the pleasurable enjoyment to be

132

^

5^

«^

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
derived from a gallop with hounds
in a peaceful English county. Yet
in the Indian sport — for all its ex-
citement— you do not get the home
surroundings, the stretching gallop
over fences and grass, the keen air,
the neighbourly pageant, and all the
halo of Old EngHshness that go to
make fox-hunting the lovable sport
it is. Indeed it is only after testing
other sports that you really appreciate
to the full the beauty of this more
homely one.

I suppose that in all the notable
events of a man's life he remembers
his first better than any subsequent
experience. On me personally my
first hog-hunting day is very indelibly
impressed : not that it was a specially
eventful dav as hog-hunting davs eo.

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
but the novelty of the sport appealed
to me very forcibly, and the picture
remains. I see now the sunny yellow
grass jungle, and the brown, strong-
shadowed coolies beating through it
with their discordant jangle of cries
and drums. Suddenly a ^^ sounder "
of smallish pig tumble out and file
away across the open. My first view
of wild pig, and a most disappointing
one ! Was this, then, the " mighty
boar " they talked of so much ? But
a moment later a form, that at first
looked like that of a donkey, caught
my eye as he stood surveying the
country from the edge of the jungle.
This was a boar. He was watching
one of our keenest beginners rest-
lessly hovering about in a way that
would have successfully headed back

^■

t,-??

134

£3

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
any timid-minded animal; but this
boar was an old warrior ; with an
inquisitive look he stepped into the
open and trotted towards our trio ; a
moment later he started into a louping
gallop with ears pricked forward and
head low, and before our friend could
manage to turn his spear in the
enemy's direction the pig had dashed
in, cut his horse's legs from under
him, and had sent steed and rider
rolling in the dust. Then he turned
with a knowing shake of his head,
and trotted gaily back to the cover,
whence all further persuasion failed
to move him.

Later on a party of us, all griffins,

got away after a full-sized pig ; in

turn we managed to get up to him

and to plant our spears in his body

^55 G

y*5^

3S^

i

im

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
and back ; but we planted and left
them there as beginners are prone to
do, so that in a few minutes our pig
somewhat resembled the fretful por-
cupine or a giant pincushion, while
we could only ride near him empty-
handed. Whenever he faced us we
fled, not exactly from fear, but from
a desire to save our teeth and noses
from the leaded spear-butts that
nodded and swayed above him.
Finally, getting tired of the sport, he
dropped a spear, which enabled us
to give him his coup de grace. And
then, to our horror, we discovered
that he was not a " he," but a '*she,"
after all 1 And so heinous a crime
is the killing of a sow that we swore
to keep our misadventure dark,
although we had every excuse for
136

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
our mistake, since she looked all over
like a boar and, as is often the case
with barren sows, carried tushes.
The crime happened many years ago,
but the shame of it has hung over
my life ever since, and now in con-
fessing to it openly for the first time
I feel a heavy cloud is lifted from my
conscience.

Among the several spears hanging
in honourable retirement on my wall
there is one whose shaft is split for
some three out of its six feet of
length. And by that split there
hangs a tale.

Two of us were out in camp
together, more for shooting than for
pig-sticking ; still we had our horses
and spears with us. Our tents were
pitched in a delightful spot on the

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
high-wooded bank of the Jumna.
Close to us lay our hunting-ground,
rough grass country with occasional
strips of thick jungle and frequent
" nullahs " or dry watercourses. A
preliminary glance at the ground
overnight revealed signs of pig — in
acres of upturned earth — so abun-
dantly that we were forced to forego
our shooting for the first day in
favour of trying for a boar instead.

Thus the early dawn found Naylor
and myself posted at the point of one
of the covers, while the coolies began
to beat it from the farther end. Wait-
ing in a state of keen expectancy, we
could hear their shouts drawing
slowly nearer and nearer, and our
horses' hearts were beating quick
and tremulous between our knees.
138

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
Suddenly both horses fling round
their heads with ears pricked ; they
are trembling in every limb with
excitement. There he stands — not
thirty yards from us — a grand grey
boar with yellow curling tushes, and
his cunning savage little eye glisten-
ing in the broad morning sunlight.
He is listening to the distant sounds
of the beaters, and does not see us.
We — scarce daring to breathe — sit
motionless as statues, with all our
eyes, all our senses fixed on him.
He moves a few paces forward, and
pauses again to listen. Will he
never go ?

At last an extra loud chorus from

the approaching line decides him ;

he swings round, trots for a few

paces, and then breaks into a rough

139

m

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
tumbling canter away across the
open.

Now we cautiously gather up our
reins, slide our feet home, and pre-
pare to follow so soon as he has got
sufficiently far from the cover as not
to be tempted to double back on
finding himself hunted. It is a case
of Mr. Jorrocks counting tw^enty-one
very much drawn out, till Nay lor at
length gives the word to go, and we
bound away together after the great
louping form now distant a good
quarter of a mile away over the
yellow grass. Our horses are mad
keen for the fray, and as one tears
through the fresh cool air all bodily
weight seems to leave one's extre-
mities and to be concentrated into a
great heartful of elation. One realises
140

liM'-C^'

5^

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
then how good it is to be alive. On
we go with httle to check our pace
but an occasional grip to fly ; pre-
sently, however, my horse begins to
show that, whatever my own impres-
sions may be, he, at any rate, does
not realise any material change in my
actual avoirdupois, and I gradually
find myself dropping behind Naylor
in the race. Nearer and nearer we
draw to the pig, and at last Naylor
turns his spear (we are riding with
the short or over-hand jobbing
spear) ready to take the first blood.

But there's many a slip. The old
pig is still cantering along in his de-
liberate yet far-reaching stride, look-
ing to a novice as though he had not
seen us ; but he knows, his ears are
laid back, and one eye or the other
141

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
is continuously glancing behind him
to watch our moves.

At last Naylor's chance comes.
Closer and closer he edges to the
boar ; an extra spurt, and he is
nearly on to him. The boar gives a
half-turn to the right, and quick as
thought Naylor's horse has turned
with him — but the boar's half-turn is
but for one stride ; in the next he
whips round at a right angle to his
former course, and Naylor's spear-
head dives bloodless into the sand a
yard behind him. Riding twenty
yards behind Naylor I am able to
turn my horse more rapidly on to
the new direction, and I gain a good
start by cutting the corner to head
my quarry. As I approach his in-
tended line the boar cocks his ears,
T42

^'^

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS

alters his course a point towards me,
and, as though projected by some
hidden spring, is suddenly close
under my horse's girths. My spear-
point is just down in time ; by good
luck rather than good management
it plunges in between his shoulder-
blades, and I crash it down with all
my force, while my horse cleverly
jumps the snorting monster. But
the spear is jammed in the boar, and
as he rushes beneath me he tears it
from my hand, and staggers onward
with the shaft standing on him. Nor
does he go far, for his blood is up,
and when Naylor hastens gaily after
him, intent to kill, the enraged old
brute turns staunchly to him and,
with every bristle pricked and tushes
chapping, makes towards his enemy.

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
But Naylor's horse, with staring eyes
and frightened snort, whips sharply
round, and will not face this fear-
some foe. For a moment the pig
marks the man's discomfiture, and
then turns to profit by it. At
a sturdy trot he pursues his way
towards the jungle looming large
ahead. Once more, and yet again,
does Naylor try a fresh attack,
always with the same result. Each
defeat, however, has brought the
boar much nearer to his refuge, so as
a last resource I take over Naylor's
spear and press with all the speed I
can command to overtake the pig.
He has but twenty yards to go when
I am on him. He flies along, nor
deigns to turn. Ah, friend, I have
thee now, upon the hip ! I close
144

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS

with him, and jam the spear down
fiercely on his burly back ; the spear-
head slips aside. Again I try, with
Hke result, and an instant later the
thorny bushes close behind him and
bar my farther way.

We quickly make our plans, and,
posting ourselves en vedette on either
side of the cover in which he hides,
we watch against his least attempt at
escape.

Presently the cooHes join us, and
while one goes back to the camp for
a fresh spear for me, we get the blunt
one fined upon a local sharpening-
stone. A grateful interval of refresh-
ment, and then, re-armed and rested,
we set the beaters on to drive him
forth once more. But this is no easy
job. He cares not for their drums
147

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
and threats, but when they near him
charges and breaks through their
line, to nestle into some thick bush
behind them. They turn again and
treat him to an infernal serenade.
Suddenly their monotonous yelling
takes another tone ; there is a con-
fused babble of talking, a hush, and
then a succession of somewhat more
coherent shouts, from which we can
gather that ^^ old Buldoo is killed by
the boar." The beating ceases, and
the coolies come huddling out of the
bushes carrying one of their number
between them. Of course he is not
killed, nor anything like it ; but his
friends hope that he is, seeing in his
decease a possible division among
them of eighty rupees consolation
money from us sahibs. Poor Buldoo
148

m

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
has, however, a horrid circular gash
inside the thigh, which has lifted a
flap of flesh from a sufficient depth
to show the bone. Such a wound on
a white man would make a ghastly
show, but not so on the darker
Hindu skin, nor indeed is there
much flow of blood. Such as there
is we soon stop, and, using the
needles and silk, carbolic, and com-
press from the handy little St. John's
Ambulance wallet in our belt, we
soon have him well patched up and
homeward bound, comfortably in-
stalled upon a native bedstead from
a neighbouring melon - gardener's
hut.

Then for the first time my shikari
steps forward, grinning, and holding
in his hand the spear I had lost in
149

S^J

py]^

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
the pig. The boar, in charging
Buldoo, had brushed close past
himself, so that he was able to grip
the spear with both hands and to
wrench it out. But the shaft was
split beyond repair. Once more the
coolies form to beat the cover, and,
whether it is some innate pluck or a
stoical submission to fate that guides
them, one cannot but admire the
way in which they proceed, unarmed
and on foot, to tackle a brute who
has ten to one the best of them in
the jungle. Naylor, too, dismounts,
and is going in with them, spear in
hand, leaving me to ride the boar
should he break ; but at this moment
excited shouting from a shepherd on
a neighbouring knoll informs us that
our wily quarry has taken advantage
150

^^y

A'

J

7 ^\

~^.

SS^^*

HE WAS ABLE TO GRIP THE SPEAR

i

m

B^

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
of our preoccupation and has quietly
slipped away. In a few seconds we
are on the knoll, and thence we see
our friend lobbing away across the
plain (as Mr. Cruickshank used so
expressively to describe it), '' like a
carpet-bag tumbling along end over
end." For a second time we have a
glorious but an all too short burst in
the open, and again Naylor forges
well ahead of me. However, the
pig is in no humour to give us a
gallop ; when he finds that we are
overtaking him, he stiffens his stride,
and, dodging in his course for a
moment or two, he suddenly turns
and comes at Naylor '' like a thousand
of bricks," " with murder in his eye."
But he has not reckoned on the
sharpened spear, and as he bounds
153

s

M

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
for the horse with his head on one
side to deliver the gash of his razor-
sharp tusk, the spear-point catches
him fair in the shoulder and rolls
him over in the dust. He is on his
legs again immediately, and, furious
with rage, turns and comes at once
for me. He is a grand specimen
of sturdy savage pluck as he bristles
up large towards me ; but he gives
one little time for admiration as he
plunges headlong at the horse. A
good point into his back scarcely
stops the impetus of his rush, and a
quick upward twist of his head, as if
merely to look at me, results in an
ugly slit in my horse's shoulder.
But the boar himself is now sorely
stricken. Close to him is one of
those curses of the Indian hunting
154

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
countries, a deep "nullah" or dry
watercourse some twenty feet wide
and ten feet deep, with steep sides.
Into this he plunges, and when we
reach the edge we see him creeping
into the cover of a big thorn-bush in
the bottom. We note that imme-
diately above the bush the sides
have toppled in and have completely
blocked the ravine. So, moving a
few yards down the bank, we dis-
mount, leave our horses, and scramble
down, spear in hand, into the bottom
of the nullah. Then we advance
shoulder to shoulder towards the
bush, and from a distance of ten
yards or so we hurl two or three
clods into it. Presently there is a
rustle, and our friend quietly sneaks
out on the far side, trotting lamely
155 H

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
up the nullah till he finds his road
barred by the fallen walls. Then he
turns and faces us, his little eyes
sparkling red with rage, blood well-
ing and glistening down his shoulder,
his broad nose dry and dusty, and
blood and slime dropping from
his panting jaws. His picture is
photographed on my mind, but the
photograph is an instantaneous one ;
for in a moment more his ears are
pricked, his mane is on end, and
he comes towards us at a sham-
bling trot ; at five yards distance
he changes to a gallop, and rushes
blindly at us. Our spears are low,
there is a shock, we are both hurled
back against the side of the ravine.
Then in the cloud of dust we see
the boar on his knees at our feet,
156

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
both spears planted in his chest and
shoulder. He essays to rise, but falls
back upon his side, and one more
spear-thrust into his heart finishes
off as game a boar as ever ran.

Well ! this is not fox-hunting, but
it is something that is very good.

In regimental orders one evening
there appeared the notice that the
regiment was to parade, mounted,
next morning at daybreak, carrying
full water-bottles and ten rounds of
blank ammunition per man ; rations
to go out by cart ; and, last but not
least, ^^ officers and troop sergeant-
majors may carry hog-spears in place
of swords." A most unique and
eventful field-day resulted.

The jungle, a large tract of heavy
grass and jhow (tamarisk) bush, was
157

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS

attacked with all military precaution
and completeness.

The regiment proceeded through
it in line at half-open files ; patrols
of four officers each were posted or |
moved well in advance of the line,
so that when a boar was scared by |
the noise of the approaching line,
then one of these patrols nearest to
him would ride after him and en-
deavour to bring him to account.

So successful was the operation |
that in a short time each of the
parties was away after its separate
boar. Still pigs were seen to be |
running aw^ay ahead of the line with
no one to hunt them, till the colonel,
who had hitherto been directing the
operations generally, gave the order
for certain non-commissioned officers
158

^^;.^^--

TOMMY ATKINS PIG-STICKING

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS

to take patrols of men with them and

see what they could do with their

swords against the pigs. In a short

time several of such parties were to

be seen scouring across country in

full pursuit of the common foe. To

say that they enjoyed it would in no

way express their excitement and

delight.

They galloped here, they galloped there,
They fought, they swore, they sweated.

In a word, they had a glorious time,
albeit when the "Rally" sounded
the bag — beyond those killed by the
spear parties — was not a large one.
Still, when all was over, the horses
groomed and fed, and the men at
their dinners and free to talk, the
babel in the bivouac was almost
ludicrous, since every man at once
l6i

Wm.i

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
was keen to tell his tale of personal
adventure with the Indian pig.
Here one was stating how his troop-
mare, C i6, had turned her tail upon
the advancing foe, and with her iron-
shod heels had sent his front teeth
rattling down his throat. And there
another, a budding Munchausen, was
relating how he stood the attack of
"not only one, but four bloomin'
swine, all of a go," and how all
single-handed and alone he had
beaten them off. It was a day that
was talked of for months afterwards
in the regiment ; and though this
one experience can have done no
more than give the men a momentary
taste of the ecstasy of a fighting
gallop, pig-sticking is nevertheless
par excellence a soldier's sport ; it
162

m

THE SPORT OF RAJAHS
tests, develops, and sustains his best
service qualities, and stands without
rival as a training-school for officers ;
nor is it ever likely to languish for
want of votaries so long as boars and
Britons continue to exist.

'i

^^i6

*$

(^

?^^

HADJ ANO

HE sun had set and
darkness was coming
on apace by the time
we sighted the wel-
come hghts of Brown's farm.

It was the second evening after
landing in Tunisia, and the previous
two days had been spent in journey-
ing hither from Bizerta, through de-
lays incident to mud, swollen rivers,
poor mounts, and erratic guides.

*^ We " consisted of my interpreter-
servant and myself. He was a Mal-
167

r ■ A-^-i'.

HADJ ANO
tese whom I had taken on at Bizerta
on the recommendation that he
knew Arabic and had been a fireman
on board an English steamer. He
only joined me just as I was starting
on the march with my two ponies.
I presently found that his Arabic
was merely the Maltese dialect of it,
and his English was limited entirely
to such words as he had been accus-
tomed to hear in his capacity as
stoker ; he had a very fairly com-
plete vocabulary of oaths, and a few
such phrases as " Stoke up," " Bank
the fires," " Go ahead," *' Stop her,"
and so on. It is true he had one
extraneous English sentence, "She
walks in the street," but this he used
more as a form of salutation than
anything else.

1 68

HADJ ANO

" Stoke up " came to mean, with
us, ^' Pack up and march " ; ^^ Bank
the fires" implied we might halt and
encamp ; and with this limited lan-
guage, eked out with signs, we got
along very well — all things con-
sidered. At any rate, we succeeded
in arriving at the right place — wet
and tired, it is true, but satisfied in
the result.

On reaching the farm I found a
note from Brown bidding me wel-
come, and explaining that in his
enforced absence in Tunis two
French officers, who were also
guests of his, would be glad to help
me in the matter of sport. The
officers, in fact, received me at the
door, and did the honours of the
house with the greatest goodwill ;
169

HADJ ANO

but I missed from the scene the
familiar form of Hadj Ano, whom I
had known there on previous visits.
He was an educated, high-caste
Arab, who acted as farm baihff to
Brown. He was an Algerian Arab,
and therefore a sportsman and a
gentleman, and very far superior to
the more servile local Tunisian
natives.

The following morning, soon after
dawn, saw us on our way to the
snipe ground which lay at the foot
of Jebel Ishkel. This was a moun-
tain whose purple crags rose high
above the plain, very much like
Gibraltar in appearance.

What curiosities to me my French
companions were ! And I, no doubt;
was equally an object of interest to
170

Wi

HADJ ANO
them. Their get-up for snipe-shoot-
ing was their uniform kepi and
jacket, with baggy Hnen overalls, and
capacious game-bags and guns slung
on their backs, and they rode their
corky, half-bred stallions in regi-
mental saddles.

The open yellow grass plains and
the distant rounded mountains, in
the crisp, clear atmosphere of the
early morning, brought out a strong
resemblance between this northern-
most part of Africa and its southern
extremity. As I jogged along with
my two foreign companions, I
seemed to be once more with my
old Boer friends starting out on
shooting horses for the veldt. But
instead of the silent whiffing of Boer
tobacco there came from my com-

HADJ ANO

panions an incessant jabber, and a
string of questions as to whether, in
passing through Paris and Marseilles,
I had seen this or that singer or
danseuse, and what were the latest
stories now being told.

This seemed to be the only
interest, not only of this pair, but
of half the officers one met in the
colony. My present friends were a
captain and his subaltern, both of
them far older than would be the
case in the similar grades in our
army, and the captain was pretty
well furnished with adipose tissue.
Probably both of them had risen
from the ranks ; at any rate, their
intellectual training was not of a
very high order, and their ability as
horsemen was on a par with it.
172

THE CAPTAIN, WHO WAS LEADING, PUSHED IN FIRST

p

HADJ ANO

Presently we reached a river
which had to be crossed before we
came on our ground ; it was about
fifty yards wide, and just fordable by
a man on horseback. The captain,
who was leading, pushed in first,
while Pierre, the subaltern, jibbed
on the bank. As the captain's horse
began to clamber up the far bank he
placed his back at such an incon-
siderate angle as to permit of the
rider slipping off over his tail into
the muddy stream. Having thus de-
posited his burden, the horse turned
round and recrossed to rejoin us.
As he ranged up near me I caught
him and led him over again. Mean-
time Pierre was still niggling vainly
at his mount, which steadily de-
clined to brave the water, and even-

^^

»v.;

HADJ ANO
tually I had to go back and fetch
him along.

At last we arrived near the snipe
ground, and, when we had off-
saddled and tied up our horses, we
started to walk the bog in line. We
had hardly taken our places before
the birds began jumping up in front
of us, and the promise of sport
raised our spirits to the highest ;
still, the birds were wild, and at first
my shots were few and far between.
Not so those of the Frenchmen, who
fired on sight at every bird, distance
being no object. But suddenly our
sport was interrupted : a fiendish
noise of neighing, screams, and
snorting rose from the group of
bushes where we had left our horses.
The captain, who was nearest to that
176

HADJ ANO
point, climbed on to the intei"vening
bank, and, giving a mighty yell,
dashed forward in the direction of
the noise, quickly followed by Pierre
and myself. And then we found that
Pierre's horse had slipped his head-
collar and the captain's had broken
away from the twig to which he had
been tied, and the pair of them were
now having a good set-to — hoof and
tooth — as hard as they could go. It
was a great fight, and was all the
more amusing to watch, as the two
owners kept skipping round, at a
very safe distance, hurling stones
and abuse with equal futility at their
pugilistic quads.

At length, by using huge branches,
we succeeded in separating and se-
curing the combatants ; and although
177

>®gi

^

m

HADJ ANO
they were covered with scratches,
bites, and contusions — happily none ^^^
of them were very serious — having ■ ";>

tied them properly and out of sight ^.
of one another, we once more re-
sumed our shoot. But it was in
reality a hopeless game for as we
walked on we had to wait continually
for one or other of the Frenchmen.
The fat one was a slow mover, and
the other was desperately afraid of
getting bogged ; both talked inces-
santly at the top of their voices, and
fired whenever they could find an
excuse ; consequently the snipe, of
which there appeared to be any
number, kept jumping up at eighty
yards in front of us in a most dis-
gusting manner. However, I noticed
w^ith great satisfaction that they did
178

IT WAS A GREAT FIGHT

HADJ ANO
not go far ; the majority of them
pitched again in the end of the long
narrow bog we were walking.

Presently Pierre, through exces-
sive caution, got bogged; finding the
ground on which he was standing
quaky and yielding, he had stood
still, fearing to move in any direction
instead of stepping off ; and when he
felt himself sinking his first act was
to jam his gun-muzzle downwards
into the mud, and his second to issue
a succession of piercing yells which
speedily brought us to his assistance.
We soon lugged him and his gun
from the slime — which, after all, was
not by any means a dangerous bog
— and deposited him on the bank to
recover. Presently he reported him-
self fit to proceed, but he elected to

lai

HADJ ANO
move in line with us, remaining
himself on terra firma. I earnestly
begged silence now, as we were
drawing up to the end of the beat,
and for a short distance all went well
save for the noisy floundering of the
captain, who was rapidly getting
rather done in spite of our slow pace
through the hummocky reeds.

Presently a great common heavy
hawk flapped his way lazily over — a
shout of warning from Pierre, and
bang ! bang ! bang ! bang ! — four
barrels of snipe-shot at fifty yards'
distance had the effect of making
him smile as he winked the other
eye. It did not make me smile,
especially when one of them, noticing
that I had not taken part in the
volley, said, in a tone of remon-
182

\ X'- V.'

HADJ AND

strance, "Surely it amuses to shoot
the large bird ? " But I had my eye
the while on the smaller bird, Mr.
Snipe, and I could see him slipping
away in twos and threes, and soaring
high for a distant flight.

At length, step by step, we drew
up towards the end of the beat — it
would soon be a matter for standing
still to let the birds get up one by
one : slower and slower we went.
Suddenly Pierre on the bank began
a hurried appeal at the top of his
voice to us to come for a real chance
of "gibier," and he started running
along the bank past the end of the
bog ; a moment later and the captain
was pounding and splashing after
him straight through the middle of
the cover. Snipe were rising like a
183

HADJ ANO
cloud of flies all round him ; the air
was full of their '' scape " of alarm.
For a moment or two I could not
find words adequate to the occasion,
and then I took myself, figuratively
speaking, by the throat and held
myself down till I was calmer.

And what are these two idiots
after ? I looked over the bank to see
them stalking with elaborate pre-
caution towards a bush on which
were perched a flock of starlings ! I
left them to their fun, and walked
back myself through the bog, and
succeeded in getting a few shots at
birds we had walked over, and found
myself with three couple in the bag
by the time I got back to the horses.
Here I was presently joined by my
friends, who had succeeded in getting
184

f^Sg

HADJ ANO

a brace and a half of starlings, half a
couple of snipe, and the same number
of greenfinches.

Then we saddled up and recrossed
the river, this time without accident.
Then when I proposed trying another
Httle bog I knew of, the Frenchmen
would not hear of it — for one thing
they were evidently quite beat with
their exercise up to date, and for
another they argued that dejeuner
would now be awaiting us at the
farm. So I determined to try the
bog by myself, in reality much
relieved at their determination.

I had not turned from them many
minutes ere I noticed a small Arab
evidently trying to overtake me. I
waited for him, expecting he might
have marked down some game near
185

■^■.a3^,

HADJ ANO

by, but he said not a word until he
had come sufficiently close to touch
my stirrup. Then, in a low voice,
he asked in Arabic if I were English ;
on my satisfying him on that score,
he merely said, in a lower voice than
before, ^' Hadj Ano," and pointed to
a distant clump of trees. I guessed
that my friend must be there, and had
sent this mysterious little messenger
to tell me. So, accompanied by the
boy, I rode in that direction, and
as we approached the place a figure
came out to meet us, which I soon
recognised as Hadj Ano himself.
He was a fine, tall, well - propor-
tioned man of about forty, with
the typical high-caste Arab features.
Except for a turban, he was dressed
in European shooting clothes, and

HADJ ANO
carried in his hand a gun belonging
to Brown. He cordially greeted me
(he spoke French like a Frenchman)
and led the way to the grove. Here
I found a delightful little camp of
two Arab tents, one of which was
occupied by the Hadji himself, the
other by some three or four Arabs
who were with him.

In a few minutes some of these
men had taken my horse and were
grooming and feeding him, while
another was preparing some food for
me.

After some mutual inquiries I
asked the Hadji how he came to
be camped out here instead of living
in the farm as usual, whereat he
laughed and said that he did not
care for French officers, and while

HADJ ANO
they occupied the farmhouse he
preferred to camp outside ; and,
knowing the dislike the Algerians
have for their French masters, I
thought no more of the matter.
He said he had heard of my arrival,
and had sent the boy to bring
me to him if I should be working
alone.

We had an excellent dejeuner of
Arab dishes, in which " khus-khus "
(a kind of semolina and chicken
curry) figured as the piece de resist-
ance, and after a short rest we
started out for a bit of ground
which Hadj Ano recommended—
open stony ground with patches of
tufty, coarse grass and clumps of
thorn bushes, through which there
meandered a stream which every
i88

HADJ ANO
now and then opened out into a
green, tussocky bog.

It was ground that might and, as
we very soon found out, did contain
many varieties of game. Shortly after
commencing our beat, with two Arab
boys as game-carriers, we put up a
fine Httle covey of partridges some
v^ distance out of shot, and almost
immediately afterwards the Hadji
knocked over a hare very neatly.
Then there fluttered up from a bush
between us a woodcock, and cross-
ing me gave me an easy shot which
brought him into the larder. A little
farther another hare fell to my com-
panion. Then we came to a small
hollow, evidently well watered, filled
with thorn bush, rank yellow grass,
and a few green bushes which looked
191

HADJ ANO
like holly. Hadj Ano and I stationed
ourselves outside this cover and sent
the boys in to act as spaniels. Pre-
sently, with a silent whisk, a rich
brown woodcock flitted past me,
and then so suddenly changed his
course as to escape the shower of
shot with which I saluted him. But
no less than three more birds came
out of the same spinny, two to me
and one to the Hadji, and these were
all accounted for. As we went on a
tempting reach of reedy swamp re-
ceived our attention, and here we
had some very pretty snipe-shooting.
Alert they were as in the morning,
but they did not fly far on the first
rise, and my present companions,
keen and silent, were very different
from the noisy Frenchmen. As a
193

*8?

mr^-

^

m

HADJ ANO

consequence we soon began to run
up quite a little bag. We had no
dog, but slow and careful walking
got the birds up nicely, and the Arab
boys were as sharp as needles in
marking and retrieving fallen game.
Anon we came to a long and narrow
belt of thorn bushes lining both banks
of the streamlet. Hadj Ano took
one side and I the other, the boys
working along in the bush, tapping
as they went. Four shots at intervals
from Hadj Ano's gun began to make
me impatient of my own silence, but
at last along bill rose within the thorns
and came to my side, and gave an
easy shot as he turned to wing along
the side of the cover ; almost where
he fell another rose, and gave a long
shot for my left barrel. I should
193

m

HADJ ANO
probably have missed him had it
been my right, but, as it was, he too
bit the dust.

On and on we went, getting every
now and then a shot at cock, until
at length the sun began to sink
towards his setting, and we had
wandered far from camp. Then we
turned and, as far as the light would
allow us, shot our way back towards
the tents. Out of a reedy pool we
got a mallard and his mate, and a
little farther on a woodcock, probably
a wounded one, rose from bare
ground at our approach, and fell,
after a twisty flight, to my second
barrel. Soon after the sun had set a
whistle of golden plover sounded sud-
denly near, and as they rushed over-
head we stopped a couple and a half.

Wyi

y%r:

HAD] ANO

That was our last and perhaps most
satisfactory shot of what had been in
the end a very satisfactory day.

Darkness had set in before we
reached the trees where lay our
camp. As this was still some five
miles from the farm, and my pony
was feeling one of his legs after the
marching from Bizerta, I gave way
to the suggestion of Hadj Ano, and
made up my mind to spend the night
in camp.

A note to this effect was despatched
by one of his men to quiet the i&P^
anxiety of my French friends at the
farm, and I sat down with a clear
conscience and an appreciative appe-
tite to the repast prepared by the
Hadji's cook-boy. Hadj Ano had
meanwhile changed his shooting

195 K

i;0

HADJ ANO
clothes for his native Arab dress,
which he always wore at home.

Then followed one of those de-
lights which only come too seldom
into one's experience — to lie at one's
ease in the cold, clear night by a
warm and cheerful camp fire. The
restfulness of it appeals to every
joint in the tired sportsman's frame,
while his mind is amused by the
quaint tales and plaintive songs with
which the Arabs pass away an hour
or two.

Then, warm and sleepy, one rolls
into one's blanket to sleep off all
fatigue and gather fresh energy from
the pure fresh air of one's bedroom
under the stars.

Often during the night, as is my
wont, I awoke to glance around, and
196

HADJ ANO

every time I did so I saw a watch-
ful figure sitting near, or standing
looking out across the plain be-
yond the trees. It was only later
on that I found out the reason for
this vigil.

Early in the morning I shot my
way back to the farm alone, for
Hadj Ano laughingly declined to
accompany me to see the French
men. We parted with a cheery
hand-wave, meaning soon to meet
again ; but we have never met.

A few months after this I chanced
to read La Depeche Tiinisiennej and
came across a column describing
how the police had made a raid on
Brown's farm with the object of
capturing *' the renowned convict
Hadj Ano." My friend, it appeared,
197

HADJ ANO
had been a chief of high standing in
Algeria, where, in accordance with a
tribal custom, he had worked off an
old family blood-feud with a neigh-
bouring tribe, and, after a well-
fought single combat, had slain his
man. But he had forgotten that
Algeria was now a civilised country
— a part of France in fact — and the
result was that

The coroner he came, and the justice too,
With a hue and a cry and a huUaballoo,

and poor Hadj Ano was sent across
the seas to expiate his crime on board
the hulks in New Caledonia.

By some means he ultimately

effected his escape and returned to

his people ; but, finding Algeria too

dangerous to live in, in safety, with

198

#;

HADJ ANO

HADJ ANO
a few trusted followers he moved
across the mountains into Tunisia.
Here he made the acquaintance of
Brown, and his sportsmanlike and
gentlemanly character, combined
with his intelligence and education,
made him at once a useful bailiff and
a pleasant companion on the farm.
His faithful people watched over and
guarded him, and the country Arabs
for miles round knew his story and
passed him warning when French
officials of any kind were moving in
the direction of Brown's farm. At
length fate went against him. Some-
how, whether by bribery or other
means I have never heard, the police
managed to keep their movements
secret, and having surrounded the
farm during the night, seized poor

201

Demy 8vo, Cloth Bztra, js. 6d. net

PINK AND SCARLET

OR

HUNTING AS A SCHOOL FOR
SOLDIERING

BY

Lieut. -Col. E. A. H. ALDERSON
p.s.c.

With nutnerous Plates and Diagrams

BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE.—'' If anybody would
like to see it proved to demonstration how valuable a mili-
tary training bunting ought to be, let him read ' Pink and
Scarlet,' by Colonel Alderson, one of our best officers of
mounted infantry, who is now in South Africa engaged in
his fifth campaign."

TH E SPEAKER. — "There is scarcely any man who
hunts who will not read this book with interest ; no soldier,
a term which includes yeomen and volunteers, can afford to
be without it. It is new in its idea and practical in the
working out of that idea. In nearly every paragraph there
is food for thought, from every chapter something to be
learned."

LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN

31 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W.C.

Price One Shilling Monthly

THE BADMINTON MAGAZINE
OF SPORTS AND PASTIMES

EDITED BY

ALFRED E. T. WATSON

B^t.

Among well-known Sportsmen who have contributed

with Pen and Pencil to the Magazine ifi the

past, may be mentioned the following

Hon. John Scott Mon-
tagu, M.P.
Sir Herbert Maxwell,

Bart, M.P.
A. C. Maclaren
Frithjof Nansek
w. e. norris
C. M. Pitman

Lord RiBBLESDALE

F, C. Selous
Alex. Innes Shand
H. Seton Karr, M.P.
Archibald Thorburn
Lord Walsingham
P. F. Warner
Lord Willoughby de
Broke

Lt.-CoL E. H. Alderson
The late Duke of

Argyll
Lt.-Gen. R. S. S. Baden

Powell
C. E, Brock
H. M. Brock
E. N. Buxton
C. T. Dent
Viscount Ebrington
C, B. Fry

Marquess of Granby
Hon. A. E. Gathorne-

Hardy
Earl of HoPETOUN
Cutliffe Hyne
Hon. Gerald Lascelles

LONDON : WILLIAM HEINEMANN

21 BEDFORD STREET, STRAND, W.C.

w

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