crackling crisper, and a better colour), and put it down to a bright,
clear fire, not too near, as that would cause the skin to blister. Baste
it well, and serve with a little gravy made in the dripping-pan, and do
not omit to send to table with it a tureen of well-made apple-sauce.
(Sec No. 363.)
_Time_.--A leg of pork weighing 8 lbs., about 3 hours.
_Average cost_, 9d. per lb.
_Sufficient_ for 6 or 7 persons.
_Seasonable_ from September to March.
ENGLISH MODE OF HUNTING, AND INDIAN PIG-STICKING.--The hunting
of the wild boar has been in all times, and in all countries, a
pastime of the highest interest and excitement, and from the age
of Nimrod, has only been considered second to the more dangerous
sport of lion-hunting. The buried treasures of Nineveh, restored
to us by Mr. Layard, show us, on their sculptured annals, the
kings of Assyria in their royal pastime of boar-hunting. That
the Greeks were passionately attached to this sport, we know
both from history and the romantic fables of the poets. Marc
Antony, at one of his breakfasts with Cleopatra, had _eight wild
boars_ roasted whole; and though the Romans do not appear to
have been addicted to hunting, wild-boar fights formed part of
their gladiatorial shows in the amphitheatre. In France,
Germany, and Britain, from the earliest time, the boar-hunt
formed one of the most exciting of sports; but it was only in
this country that the sport was conducted without dogs,--a real
hand-to-hand contest of man and beast; the hunter, armed only
with a boar-spear, a weapon about four feet long, the ash staff,
guarded by plates of steel, and terminating in a long, narrow,
and very sharp blade: this, with a hunting-knife, or hanger,
completed his offensive arms. Thus equipped, the hunter would
either encounter his enemy face to face, confront his desperate
charge, as with erect tail, depressed head, and flaming eyes, he
rushed with his foamy tusks full against him, who either sought
to pierce his vitals through his counter, or driving his spear
through his chine, transfix his heart; or failing those more
difficult aims, plunge it into his flank, and, without
withdrawing the weapon, strike his ready hanger into his throat.
But expert as the hunter might be, it was not often the
formidable brute was so quickly dispatched; for he would
sometimes seize the spear in his powerful teeth, and nip it off
like a reed, or, coming full tilt on his enemy, by his momentum
and weight bear him to the earth, ripping up, with a horrid
gash, his leg or side, and before the writhing hunter could draw
his knife, the infuriated beast would plunge his snout in the
wound, and rip, with savage teeth, the bowels of his victim. At
other times, he would suddenly swerve from his charge, and
doubling on his opponent, attack the hunter in the rear. From
his speed, great weight, and savage disposition, the wild boar
is always a dangerous antagonist, and requires great courage,
coolness, and agility on the part of the hunter. The continental
sportsman rides to the chase in a cavalcade, with music and
dogs,--a kind of small hound or mastiff, and leaving all the
honorary part of the contest to them, when the boar is becoming
weary, and while beset by the dogs, rides up, and drives his
lance home in the beast's back or side. Boar-hunting has been
for some centuries obsolete in England, the animal no longer
existing in a wild state among us; but in our Indian empire, and
especially in Bengal, the pastime is pursued by our countrymen
with all the daring of the national character; and as the animal
which inhabits the cane-brakes and jungles is a formidable foe,
the sport is attended with great excitement. The hunters,
mounted on small, active horses, and armed only with long
lances, ride, at early daylight, to the skirts of the jungle,
and having sent in their attendants to beat the cover, wait till
the tusked monster comes crashing from among the canes, when
chase is immediately given, till he is come up with, and
transfixed by the first weapon. Instead of flight, however, he
often turns to bay, and by more than one dead horse and wounded
hunter, shows how formidable he is, and what those polished
tusks, sharp as pitch-forks, can effect, when the enraged animal
defends his life.
TO GLAZE HAM.--(See Recipe No. 430.)
HASHED PORK.