Some idea of the sort of sport which attends the chase of wild boars, may be formed from the following account of one which took place in a forest in Luxembourg. At a battle, several of these animals were driven together, and they came rushing on like a squadron of heavy dragoons, breaking through the underwood. Several shots were fired, and they tried to disperse. One huntsman got out of the line, and a boar came rushing upon him; but a fresh shot broke one of his legs; which, however, though it made him more savage, caused him to turn into the forest. The well-trained dogs, and the huntsmen pursued him; and when they came up with him, found him terrifically savage. One of the hounds, more daring than the rest, made a dart at the beast, seized him by one ear, and bounded over him to the opposite side. They ran off together, the boar's head almost turned upside down; but, with a sudden jerk, the dog was shaken off, and the boar tearing him open, tossed him several feet in the air. The pack then gathered so thickly round, that the boar's progress was stayed; the men then came up and cut his throat. At another point of the wood, a sow, weighing three hundred pounds, and followed by her young, was wounded, and furiously pursued a hunter, whom she surprised in a narrow pass between two rocks. He waited her approach and fired, or rather tried to do so, but his gun missed; he then, in an instant, fell on his face and hands, and the sow ran over his body. Rising, and loading his gun, he provoked the sow again by his cries. The foaming creature, with flashing eyes, turned upon him; but this time she received the charge in her head and fell.
Wild hogs are easily domesticated, and as easily resume their uncivilized habits; but they seem then to keep in packs. Mr. Byam relates the following adventure with these renegades:--"I was one day hunting alone, on foot, in a rather open wood, when a large boar made his appearance about sixty yards off, and not seeing any of his companions, I let fly the ball, and tumbled him over. He gave a fierce grunt or two as he lay; and a large herd of boars and sows rushed out of some thick underwood behind him, and, after looking at the fallen beast for a few seconds, made a dash at me: but they were a trifle too late, for on catching sight of them, I ran to a tree, 'cut up' it for life, and had only just scrambled into some diverging branches, about ten feet from the ground, when the whole herd arrived; grunting and squeaking, at the foot of the tree. I could not help laughing at the ridiculous figure I must have made, chased up a tree by a dozen of pigs; but it soon turned out no laughing matter, for their patience was not, as I expected, soon exhausted; and they settled round the tree about twenty yards distant, and kept looking at me with their little twinkling eyes, as much as to say, 'We'll have you yet.'" So far are Mr. Byam's own words; and I now give the sequel in a more abridged form, though, by so doing, I feel that I deprive the story of some of its zest:--Having made up his mind to a regular siege, he examined his resources, and found them to be a double-barreled gun, a flask of powder (nearly full), plenty of copper caps; a few charges of shot; only two balls; a knife, flint, and steel; a piece of hard, dried tongue; a small flask of spirits and water; and a good bundle of cigars. He could not expect relief, a sally was out of the question; so he made himself as comfortable as he could. Hour after hour passed, the pigs never stirred, except when one or two returned to look at their dead comrade, as if to sharpen their revenge. At length the imprisoned hunter thought of firing off some powder every few minutes, shouting at the same time. One barrel of his gun was still loaded with shot, and he aimed at an old boar; who, on returning from his deceased friend, had looked up at him and grunted. The whole charge, at a distance of about twenty feet, went into the boar's face, who then turned round and ran away, making a horrible noise. The rest of the party charged altogether up to the foot of the tree, but the outcry of the old boar drew them away; and the whole herd went after him, making such a noise as never before had saluted Mr. Byam's ears. He remained in the tree a short time; and, when all was quiet, he slipped down, and ran away as fast as he could, in a contrary direction.