it may be said that some guns carry better than others, and that perhaps my flint lock was not so good a one of its kind as my detonator was of its description; to set aside this, I will mention a trial made yesterday by a friend of mine, one of the best and steadiest shots in India, who, after nearly sixteen years' shooting with the flint lock, has now become a convert to the superior powers of the other. His gun was a Joe Manton, and had both flint and detonating locks; the mark was 40 sheets of coarse country paper, at 40 yards; the charge of powder

The

weighed 62 grains, and the shot (No 5) weighed 440 grains. result was that with both barrels, with the flint locks, 75 shots struck the paper, but only 28 went through,-while with the same barrels with the detonating locks, only 47 struck, but of these 30 went through. This proves that the detonating locks caused the shot to go with most power, and consequently with more effect.

It is time now to consider the advantages of the detonator in qualities which the flint cannot possess, and, first, the very much greater certainty of the gun going off every time, especially drizzling weather, when the flint is nearly or quite useless. The almost instantaneous effect which the shot take; the greater accuracy with which aim can be taken; the absence of all smoke from the pan, which in flint guns, especially in moist or fog, or with the wind in your face, frequently prevents the sportsman from see

SIR,

pense said to attend the detonator, in the expenditure of caps-this could be met by the greater quantity of powder used by the flint gun in the barrel, besides the quantity in the pan and the cost of flints.

I said in my last letter that of all difficult riding, nullahs are the worst, and I do not think any one who has tried every kind of country would hesitate for a moment to make the same assertion. I don't know anything that proves such a sickener, when in full pursuit, as coming suddenly in sight of ground of this nature, probably just at the time too that a very short distance more would bring you to close quarters. hog appears at once to discover his cover at hand, and it must be a good horse indeed that can run into him in the last hundred yards "of home."

The

To expect a man new to his work" to go decently even over a country of this kind is out of the question, but to be amongst the "first flight is what very few can boast of, let their practice be what it will-in one word, he that is a first-rate performer in nullahs must prove a "tiptop sawyer in any country under the sun.

It has often struck me as extraordinary that amongst the many "workmen mentioned by Nimrod in his tours, few, if any, Indians are to be found; which would certainly tend to show that my opinion of the powers of a first-rate hog-hunter is "backed out by proof; but before I can allow that much, we

a

not

must take into consideration the age at which men return home, and the exceedingly short time that hog-hunting takes to slacken. the nerves. It is scarcely credible how soon a man's day is gone by in comparison with fox-hunting, and I think I am not going too far when I say the breakneck nature of the sport is the sole and only cause. Hogs are usually found in the worst places of a bad country. The very sound of a horse behind him seems the signal for dashing for every difficulty Iwithin his reach : if you intend mischief, go it you must, and that as hard as the horse can carry you, for once out of view the game is up. The worse the ground, the better it is for him, and, unless "blown at starting, his "bottom" will show you that unless your cattle is of real good stuff you've no business there, and I need hardly say that "to blow " an animal that even on a bowlinggreen has equal speed with most horses for three or four hundred yards, anything short of the right pace over bad ground is merely knocking about a horse for nothing;-as for killing! I can't use a better term than the climax the dealer arrived at when describing his horse's gallop-why d-m-e! In short, to those who have not yet arrived at the happy conclusion of what a hog-hunt is,

when contested for the spear, I shall not be far off the mark when I say it is a severely contested steeplechase over difficult ground, with this exception;-instead of a complaisant steeple, waiting like a polished gentleman to receive you, you have an ill-mannered brute not only doing his best to increase the distance between you, and will do it too, unless you are "up to your work," but when you have come up, is likely enough to receive you, to be sure, with eight inches of tusk as cleverly made use of as ever Shaw* did the broadsword. But putting aside the powers of the hog and the difficulty of the country, there is a great disadvantage under which an Indian sportsman rides, -a disadvantage which, considering the little trouble it would take to remedy, cannot but excite surprise. A sportsman in England would scarce believe a man who would tell him that the Indian hunters are untrained to leaping! and yet such is the actual fact. No man can make a horse clever when nature has rendered him in form imperfect:-a man may ride a horse of this kind not being able to find a purchaser;-he rides with open eyes at considerable risk, but remedy there is none, at least for the time; but can it be believed, when a "bar" can in a fortnight cure a serious imperfection, that a man is willing to add to the risk of a broken collar-bone, a thing happening every day, merely to save himself the trouble of an hour's daily attendance in front of the stable ? I have heard it asserted that Arabs cannot leap with all the trouble in the world; if such was really the, case, there would be some reason for not trying, but it is as contrary to fact as can possibly be; the Arabs are

* The Lifeguardsman at Waterloo.

While on this subject I

I

naturally leapers, and consequently would soon be made "perfect.' What would become of half the men that hunt if such was not the case, when it is borne in mind that their horses are untrained? Another argument, if such it can be called, is, that leaps but rarely occur. Supposing this to be the case, which I would never admit, no one could seriously argue that because ten miles of country can be passed over without a leap, the neck is to be risked in the eleventh at a jump which a month's attention at the bar would have rendered easy and safe. have only to say that I have tried the experiment myself, and seen others go through the fatigue of giving a few lessons with most complete success. once measured the jumps of three Arabs whose feat I think surprising, and although one of the horses was, and is, my own, I should be doing the gallant little fellow injustice were I not to mention it. On the last day of a hog-hunting tour, when almost all hope of another run had been given up, a fine sounder jumped up under our horses' feet, dashing through the midst of us and going away at his best pace for a large hill close at hand. Some four hundred yards of apparently fine ground had however to be passed, and at it we went in good earnest; as usual, the largest hog was selected, and, having before said the first spear is the grand object on such occasions, it will readily be believed every horse was at the top of his speed. The hog was already neared, and we had arrived at that moment of excitement when the spears begin to be lengthened to the utmost extent each man's strength can admit, when as awkward a place as often falls to one's lot to come on un

expectedly showed itself right in front; the hog finding us too close behind to refuse it, sprung clear over in a style that on any other occasion I should have been willing enough to have admired -I don't say I did just then, as I fairly thought he would have had the laugh against us-but our little nags were not to be done with anything a hog could do, and that they proved. No leap was ever taken in finer style; the only three that went at it cleared it within a few feet of each other, and in another two minutes the hog was weltering in his blood. Before I mention the measurement, the height of the horses and weights they were carrying should be given, as well as their names-Chancellor, 13h. 3in., carrying 11st. 91b.; Steam, 13h. 3in., 11st. 21b. ; Cedric, 11st. 1lb.height, 14 hands. The weights include saddles and bridles. The distance, carefully measured, was 15 feet-two inches more or less being the trifling difference between their respective jumps. When the size of the horses, the weight each carried, the suddenness with which they came on the leap, together with the pace at which they were going, being nothing more or less than the top of their speed, the feat is one which I think deserves to be recorded, although I'm free to confess, if it should unfortunately meet the eye of any one who has seen in the Sporting Magazine the account of a leap said to have been taken somewhere in Great Britain, in which the horse actually covered thirty-six feet!!-I say, if it should met his eye any time, within the same year, our little Arabs' performances will certainly cat no great figure: but really there is no standing your thirtysix feet leapers; it's lucky they are not to be met with every day,

or one might be inclined to think some trifling mistake would be found in the measurement.

I have still a word more to say on riding. We have as yet got only as far as nullahs, and have not shown the method of crossing them, which can be told in a few lines. The whole secret lies in riding, without slackening the pace, almost if not to the very edge, with a horse that can turn, as all good hunters can do, round a spear; in other words, perfectly handy at turning. There is still time to "luff up" and try elsewhere should the point which the hog has passed prove, which is not often the case, impracticable. Pulling up is out of the question: so much time is lost in so doing that far from a chance of "taking the spear" remaining, it is ten to one that no more is seen of the hog; for it is to be recollected a shortlegged active animal finds little or no difficulty in going up and down places of this description, and consequently gains on the best horse that ever stepped, let him be rode by the first sportsman in existence. As going one's best, then, is not sufficient to keep one on equal terms with the hog, I need hardly say how little a craner or ginger goer" would see of the rest of the chase!-besides, as to pulling up an Arab dead, when at a sharp gallop, the thing is impossible.* I firmly believe, that

*My putting the "impossibility last, reminds me of a story of a friend of mine who was riding in company with another, when they met a horse which much resembled a 66 good one which they had both before seen, but had not heard of for some time. That must be him, said his companion, else it's the very image of him." no," replied my friend, "it can't be him, he's not so heavy before, he's better made altogether, and his colour, too, is not the same; besides which, he's been dead a full year and a half."

or

"Oh

take a dozen hog-hunters, put them to their best pace with a hog close in front, not two out of the twelve will be pulled up in less than a hundred yards, which must at once show, if true, the impracticability of doing mischief on that system. But although he cannot be pulled up, it is quite wonderful how sharp he will turn, and on that qualification more depends than on all the rest put together. What makes nullahs so difficult are the steepness of the banks, their great breadth, being not twice out of twelve times leapable, with deep sand at the bottom, or, what much more frequently happens, large stones or sheet rock-the consequence of which is there is always a scramble at the bottom and up the opposite side, which not only explains where the hog gains ground, but sufficiently accounts for cut legs and sprained shoulders, accidents which frequently happen even when out with the Ahmednugger Hounds, although the pace is one-third less. The best advice that can be given is to follow exactly the same track as the hog, who, unless sharply pressed,* is sure to take down, if not actually the best place, at any rate one in which there will be no difficulty in following: those which are only a few feet wider than a good leap are of course the most difficult, on account of the small space at the bottom in which the horse can recover himself; but by marking well the time it takes the hog to reappear, one may form a very good idea of the breadth, and consequently whether an "in and

Hogs are notoriously sure-footed, and seldom take down dangerous places : a surprising case au contraire took place at a chase no great distance from Poona. Four hogs were afoot, and being sharp pressed, actually took over a precipice, and were every one killed on the spot.

out clever" or "jump" is the point.

Of the other kinds of country but little need be said. Stones, holes, and hills are all bad enough to look at; perhaps it is difficult to say which, to appearances, are the worst; hills, as they all are in this part of the world a mass of stones and rock, are too awkward at first to be at all agreeable, but the position of a horse's hind legs in descents is such as to render the risk but trifling; and lucky it. is so, for one fall at any decent pace would probably prove underground work. Stones need only be rode over on a good hunter three or four times to show there is more in the look than reality. Whether small pebbles or large rocks, a man has only to forget his horse has legs for the time being, nothing else need stop him; destructive as it may be to the cattle, none but good ones should be trusted; owing to this not being sufficiently attended to, I have seen a fall or two that made my blood freeze, and which I heartily hope I may never witness again.

*

Holes, although they occasion more falls, are not such dampers

I have never seen a horse in this country cut through so as to bring his fetlock joints in the ground; a thing which not unfrequently happens in Surrey. Although sharp flints are not met with, pointed fixed stones are to be found on most hills, which would appear equally bad but though injuries of so serious a nature do not occur, the very sight of the poor little Arab's legs is enough almost to make a man forswear hunting over stones. I've seen, and so must every one, legs with scarce a particle of skin from the foot to the knee. I recollect once killing a hog that had the whole of the hard part of his foot hanging by a mere thread, so that the "sensible" foot must have been in contact with the ground! Hog. hunting is certainly not fitted in any light for tender feelings either in regard to hog or hunter.