e
safest; and, in short, you get complete information on every point
connected with the jungle and its wild inhabitants.

To these men the mysterious jungle reveals its most hidden secrets.
Surrounded by his herd of buffaloes, the _gualla_ ventures into the
darkest recesses and the most tangled thickets. They have strange wild
calls by which they give each other notice of the approach of danger,
and when two or three of them meet, each armed with his heavy,
iron-shod or brass-bound _lathee_ or quarter staff, they will not budge
an inch out of their way for buffalo or boar; nay, they have been known
to face the terrible tiger himself, and fairly beat him away from the
quivering carcase of some unlucky member of their herd. They have
generally some favourite buffalo on whose broad back they perch
themselves, as it browses through the jungle, and from this elevated
seat they survey the rest of the herd, and note the incidents of jungle
life. When they wish a little excitement, or a change from their milk
and rice diet, there are hundreds of pigs around.

They have a broad, sharp spear-head, to which is attached a stout cord,
often made of twisted hide or hair. Into the socket of the spear is
thrust a bamboo pole or shaft, tough, pliant, and flexible. The cord is
wound round the spear and shaft, and the loose end is then fastened to
the middle of the pole. Having thus prepared his weapon, the herdsman
mounts his buffalo, and guides it slowly, warily, and cautiously to the
haunts of the pig. These are, of course, quite accustomed to see the
buffaloes grazing round them on all sides, and take no notice until the
_gualla_ is within striking distance. When he has got close up to the
pig he fancies, he throws his spear with all his force. The pig
naturally bounds off, the shaft comes out of the socket, leaving the
spearhead sticking in the wound. The rope uncoils of itself, but being
firmly fastened to the bamboo, it brings up the pig at each bush, and
tears and lacerates the wound, until either the spearhead comes out, or
the wretched pig drops down dead from exhaustion and loss of blood. The
_gualla_ follows upon his buffalo, and frequently finishes the pig with
a few strokes of his _lathee_. In any case he gets his pork, and it
certainly is an ingenious and bold way of procuring it.

Wild pig are very destructive to crops. During the night they revel in
the cultivated fields contiguous to the jungle, and they destroy more