The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon

By Sir Samuel White Baker

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Title: The Rifle and The Hound in Ceylon

Author: Samuel White Baker

Posting Date: February 22, 2009 [EBook #3231]
Release Date: May, 2002

Language: English


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THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON


By Sir Samuel White Baker




PREFACE.

Upwards of twenty years have passed since the 'Rifle and Hound in
Ceylon' was published, and I have been requested to write a preface for
a new edition. Although this long interval of time has been spent in
a more profitable manner than simple sport, nevertheless I have added
considerably to my former experience of wild animals by nine years
passed in African explorations. The great improvements that have been
made in rifles have, to a certain extent, modified the opinions that
I expressed in the 'Rifle and Hound in Ceylon.' Breech-loaders have so
entirely superseded the antiquated muzzle-loader, that the hunter of
dangerous animals is possessed of an additional safeguard. At the same
time I look back with satisfaction to the heavy charges of powder that
were used by me thirty years ago and were then regarded as absurd, but
which are now generally acknowledged by scientific gunners as the only
means of insuring the desiderata of the rifle, i.e., high velocity, low
trajectory, long range, penetration, and precision.

When I first began rifle-shooting thirty-seven years ago, not one man
in a thousand had ever handled such a weapon. Our soldiers were then
armed*(*With the exception of the Rifle Brigade) with the common old
musket, and I distinctly remember a snubbing that I received as a
youngster for suggesting, in the presence of military men, 'that the
army should throughout be supplied with rifles.' This absurd idea
proposed by a boy of seventeen who was a good shot with a weapon that
was not in general use, produced such a smile of contempt upon
my hearers, that the rebuke left a deep impression, and was never
forgotten. A life's experience in the pursuit of heavy game has
confirmed my opinion expressed in the 'Rifle and Hound' in 1854--that
the best weapon for a hunter of average strength is a double rifle
weighing fifteen pounds, of No. 10 calibre. This should carry a charge
of ten drachms of No. 6 powder (coarse grain). In former days I used
six or seven drachms of the finest grained powder with the old
muzzle-loader, but it is well known that the rim of the breech-loading
cartridge is liable to burst with a heavy charge of the fine grain,
therefore No. 6 is best adapted for the rifle.

Although a diversity of calibres is a serious drawback to the comfort
of a hunter in wild countries, it is quite impossible to avoid the
difficulty, as there is no rifle that will combine the requirements
for a great variety of game. As the wild goose demands B B shot and the
snipe No. 8, in like manner the elephant requires the heavy bullet, and
the deer is contented with the small-bore.

I have found great convenience in the following equipment for hunting
every species of game in wild tropical countries.

One single-barrel rifle to carry a half-pound projectile, or a four
ounce, according to strength of hunter.

Three double-barrelled No. 10 rifles, to carry ten drachms No. 6 powder.

One double-barrelled small-bore rifle, sighted most accurately for
deer-shooting. Express to carry five or six drachms, but with hardened
solid bullet.

Two double-barrelled No. 10 smooth-bores to carry shot or ball; the
latter to be the exact size for the No. 10 rifles.

According to my experience, such a battery is irresistible.

The breech-loader has manifold advantages over the muzzle-loader in a
wild country. Cartridges should always be loaded in England, and they
should be packed in hermetically sealed tin cases within wooden boxes,
to contain each fifty, if large bores, or one hundred of the smaller
calibre.

These will be quite impervious to damp, or to the attacks of insects.
The economy of ammunition will be great, as the cartridge can be drawn
every evening after the day's work, instead of being fired off as with
the muzzle-loader, in order that the rifle may be cleaned.

The best cartridges will never miss fire. This is an invaluable quality
in the pursuit of dangerous game.

Although I advocate the express small-bore with the immense advantage
of low trajectory, I am decidedly opposed to the hollow expanding
bullet for heavy, thick-skinned game. I have so frequently experienced
disappointment by the use of the hollow bullet that I should always
adhere to the slightly hardened and solid projectile that will preserve
its original shape after striking the thick hide of a large animal.

A hollow bullet fired from an express rifle will double up a deer,
but it will be certain to expand upon the hard skin of elephants,
rhinoceros, hippopotami, buffaloes, &c.; in which case it will lose
all power of penetration. When a hollow bullet strikes a large bone, it
absolutely disappears into minute particles of lead,--and of course it
becomes worthless.

For many years I have been supplied with firstrate No. 10 rifles by
Messrs. Reilly & Co. of Oxford Street, London, which have never become
in the slightest degree deranged during the rough work of wild hunting.
Mr. Reilly was most successful in the manufacture of explosive shells
from my design; these were cast-iron coated with lead, and their effect
was terrific.

Mr. Holland of Bond Street produced a double-barrelled rifle that
carried the Snider Boxer cartridge. This was the most accurate weapon
up to 300 yards, and was altogether the best rifle that I ever used; but
although it possessed extraordinary precision, the hollow bullet caused
the frequent loss of a wounded animal. Mr. Holland is now experimenting
in the conversion of a Whitworth-barrel to a breech-loader. If this
should prove successful, I should prefer the Whitworth projectile to
any other for a sporting rifle in wild countries, as it would combine
accuracy at both long and short ranges with extreme penetration.

The long interval that has elapsed since I was in Ceylon, has caused a
great diminution in the wild animals.

The elephants are now protected by game laws, although twenty years ago
a reward was offered by the Government for their destruction. The 'Rifle
and Hound' can no longer be accepted as a guidebook to the sports in
Ceylon; the country is changed, and in many districts the forests have
been cleared, and civilization has advanced into the domains of wild
beasts. The colony has been blessed with prosperity, and the gradual
decrease of game is a natural consequence of extended cultivation and
increased population.

In the pages of this book it will be seen that I foretold the
destruction of the wild deer and other animals twenty years ago. At that
time the energetic Tamby's or Moormen were possessed of guns, and had
commenced a deadly warfare in the jungles, killing the wild animals as a
matter of business, and making a livelihood by the sale of dried flesh,
hides, and buffalo-horns. This unremitting slaughter of the game during
all seasons has been most disastrous, and at length necessitated the
establishment of laws for its protection.

As the elephants have decreased in Ceylon, so in like manner their
number must be reduced in Africa by the continual demand for ivory.
Since the 'Rifle and Hound' was written, I have had considerable
experience with the African elephant.

This is a distinct species, as may be seen by a comparison with the
Indian elephant in the Zoological Gardens of the Regent's Park.

In Africa, all elephants are provided with tusks; those of the females
are small, averaging about twenty pounds the pair. The bull's are
sometimes enormous. I have seen a pair of tusks that weighed 300 lbs.,
and I have met with single tusks of 160 lbs. During this year (1874) a
tusk was sold in London that weighed 188 lbs. As the horns of deer vary
in different localities, so the ivory is also larger and of superior
quality in certain districts. This is the result of food and climate.
The average of bull elephant's tusks in equatorial Africa is about 90
lbs. or 100 lbs. the pair.

It is not my intention to write a treatise upon the African
elephant; this has been already described in the 'Nile Tributaries of
Abyssinia,'*(* Published by Messrs. Macmillan and Co.) but it will be
sufficient to explain that it is by no means an easy beast to kill when
in the act of charging. From the peculiar formation of the head, it is
almost impossible to kill a bull elephant by the forehead shot; thus the
danger of hunting the African variety is enhanced tenfold.

The habits of the African elephant are very different from those of his
Indian cousins. Instead of retiring to dense jungles at sunrise, the
African will be met with in the mid-day glare far away from forests,
basking in the hot prairie grass of ten feet high, which scarcely
reaches to his withers.

Success in elephant shooting depends materially upon the character of
the ground. In good forests, where a close approach is easy, the African
species can be killed like the Indian, by one shot either behind the
ear or in the temple; but in open ground, or in high grass, it is both
uncertain and extremely dangerous to attempt a close approach on foot.
Should the animal turn upon the hunter, it is next to impossible to take
the forehead-shot with effect. It is therefore customary in Africa, to
fire at the shoulder with a very heavy rifle at a distance of fifty or
sixty yards. In Ceylon it was generally believed that the shoulder-shot
was useless; thus we have distinct methods of shooting the two species
of elephants: this is caused, not only by the difference between the
animals, but chiefly by the contrast in the countries they inhabit.
Ceylon is a jungle; thus an elephant can be approached within a few
paces, which admit of accurate aim at the brain. In Africa the elephant
is frequently upon open ground; therefore he is shot in the larger mark
(the shoulder) at a greater distance. I have shot them successfully both
in the brain and in the shoulder, and where the character of the country
admits an approach to within ten paces, I prefer the Ceylon method of
aiming either at the temple or behind the ear.

Although the African elephant with his magnificent tusks is a higher
type than that of Ceylon, I look back to the hunting of my younger days
with unmixed pleasure. Friends with whom I enjoyed those sports are
still alive, and are true friends always, thus exemplifying that
peculiar freemasonry which unites the hearts of sportsmen.

After a life of rough experience in wild countries, I have found some
pleasure in referring to the events of my early years, and recalling
the recollection of many scenes that would have passed away had they not
been chronicled. I therefore trust that although the brightest days of
Ceylon sports may have somewhat faded by the diminution of the game,
there may be Nimrods (be they young or old) who will still discover some
interest in the 'Rifle and Hound in Ceylon.'

S. W. BAKER.




INTRODUCTION.

THE LOVE OF SPORT is a feeling inherent in most Englishmen, and whether
in the chase, or with the rod or gun, they far excel all other nations.
In fact, the definition of this feeling cannot be understood by many
foreigners. We are frequently ridiculed for fox-hunting: 'What for all
dis people, dis horses, dis many dog? dis leetle (how you call him?) dis
"fox" for to catch? ha! you eat dis creature; he vary fat and fine?'

This is a foreigner's notion of the chase; he hunts for the pot; and by
Englishmen alone is the glorious feeling shared of true, fair, and manly
sport. The character of the nation is beautifully displayed in all our
rules for hunting, shooting, fishing, fighting, etc.; a feeling of fair
play pervades every amusement. Who would shoot a hare in form? who would
net a trout stream? who would hit a man when down? A Frenchman would do
all these things, and might be no bad fellow after all. It would be HIS
way of doing it. His notion would be to make use of an advantage when an
opportunity offered. He would think it folly to give the hare a chance
of running when he could shoot her sitting; he would make an excellent
dish of all the trout he could snare; and as to hitting his man when
down, he would think it madness to allow him to get up again until he
had put him hors de combat by jumping on him. Their notions of sporting
and ours, then, widely differ; they take every advantage, while we give
every advantage; they delight in the certainty of killing, while our
pleasure consists in the chance of the animal escaping.

I would always encourage the love of sport in a lad; guided by its true
spirit of fair play, it is a feeling that will make him above doing a
mean thing in every station of life, and will give him real feelings
of humanity. I have had great experience in the characters of thorough
sportsmen, who are generally straightforward, honourable men, who would
scorn to take a dirty advantage of man or animal. In fact, all real
sportsmen that I have met have been tender-hearted men--who shun cruelty
to an animal, and are easily moved by a tale of distress.

With these feelings, sport is an amusement worthy of a man, and this
noble taste has been extensively developed since the opportunities of
travelling have of late years been so wonderfully improved. The facility
with which the most remote regions are now reached, renders a tour over
some portion of the globe a necessary adjunct to a man's education; a
sportsman naturally directs his path to some land where civilisation has
not yet banished the wild beast from the soil.

Ceylon is a delightful country for the sporting tourist. In the high
road to India and China, any length of time may be spent en passant, and
the voyage by the Overland route is nothing but a trip of a few weeks of
pleasure.

This island has been always celebrated for its elephants, but the other
branches of sport are comparatively unknown to strangers. No account
has ever been written which embraces all Ceylon sports: anecdotes of
elephant-shooting fill the pages of nearly every work on Ceylon; but
the real character of the wild sports of this island has never been
described, because the writers have never been acquainted with each
separate branch of the Ceylon chase.

A residence of many years in this lovely country, where the wild sports
of the island have formed a never-failing and constant amusement, alone
confers sufficient experience to enable a person to give a faithful
picture of both shooting and hunting in Ceylon jungles.

In describing these sports I shall give no anecdotes of others, but I
shall simply recall scenes in which I myself have shared, preferring
even a character for egotism rather than relate the statements of
hearsay, for the truth of which I could not vouch. This must be accepted
as an excuse for the unpleasant use of the first person.

There are many first-rate sportsmen in Ceylon who could furnish
anecdotes of individual risks and hairbreadth escapes (the certain
accompaniments to elephant-shooting) that would fill volumes; but
enough will be found, in the few scenes which I have selected from whole
hecatombs of slaughter, to satisfy and perhaps fatigue the most patient
reader.

One fact I wish to impress upon all--that the colouring of every
description is diminished and not exaggerated, the real scene being in
all cases a picture, of which the narration is but a feeble copy.




CONTENTS.

CHAPTER 1.

Wild Country--Dealings in the Marvellous--Enchanting Moments--The
Wild Elephant of Ceylon--'Rogues'--Elephant Slaughter--Thick
Jungles--Character of the Country--Varieties of Game in Ceylon--'Battery
for Ceylon Sport'--The Elk or 'Samber Deer'--Deer-coursing

CHAPTER II.

Newera Ellia--The Turn-out for Elk-hunting--Elk-hunting--Elk turned to
Bay--The Boar

CHAPTER III.

Minneria Lake--Brush with a Bull--An Awkward Vis-a-vis--A Bright
Thought--Bull Buffalo Receives his Small Change--What is Man?--Long Shot
with the Four-ounce--Charged by a Herd of Buffaloes--The Four-ounce
does Service--The 'Lola'--A Woman killed by a Crocodile--Crocodile at
Bolgodde Lake--A Monster Crocodile--Death of a Crocodile

CHAPTER IV.

Equipment for a Hunting Trip--In Chase of a Herd of Elephants--Hard
Work--Close Quarters--Six Feet from the Muzzle--A Black with a Devil

CHAPTER V.

The Four-ounce again--Tidings of a Rogue--Approaching a Tank Rogue--An
Exciting Moment--Ruins of Pollanarua--Ancient Ruins--Rogues at
Doolana--B. Charged by a Rogue--Planning an Attack--A Check--Narrow
Escape--Rogue-stalking--A Bad Rogue--Dangers of Elephant-shooting--The
Phatamahatmeya's Tale

CHAPTER VI.

Character of the Veddahs--Description of the Veddahs--A Monampitya
Rogue--Attacking the Rogue--Breathless Excitement--Death of a Large
Rogue--Utility of the Four-ounce--A Curious Shot--Fury of a Bull
Buffalo--Character of the Wild Buffalo--Buffalo-shooting at Minneria
Lake--Charge in High Reeds--Close of a Good Day's Sport--Last Day at
Minneria--A Large Snake--An Unpleasant Bedfellow

CHAPTER VII.

Capabilities of Ceylon--Deer at Illepecadewe--Sagacity of a Pariah
Dog--Two Deer at One Shot--Deer-stalking--Hambantotte Country--Kattregam
Festival--Sitrawelle--Ruins of Ancient Mahagam--Wiharewelle--A Night
Attack upon Elephants--Shooting by Moonlight--Yalle River--Another
Rogue--A Stroll before Breakfast--A Curious Shot--A Good Day's Sport

CHAPTER VIII.

Best Hounds for Elk-hunting--Smut--Killbuck--The Horton Plains--A Second
Soyer--The Find--The Buck at Bay--The Bay--The Death--Return of Lost
Dogs--Comparative Speed of Deer--Veddah Ripped by a Boar--A Melee--Buck
at Black Pool--Old Smut's Ruse--Margosse Oil

CHAPTER IX.

A Morning's Deer-coursing--Kondawataweny--Rogue at Kondawataweny--A
Close Shave--Preparations for Catching an Elephant--Catching
an Elephant--Taming Him--Flying Shot at a Buck--Cave at
Dimbooldene--Awkward Ground--A Charmed Life

CHAPTER X.

Another Trip to the Park--A Hard Day's Work--Discover a Herd--Death of
the Herd--A Furious Charge--Caught at Last--The Consequences--A Thorough
Rogue--Another Herd in High Lemon Grass--Bears--A Fight between a
Moorman and a Bear--A Musical Herd--Herd Escape--A Plucky Buck--Death of
'Killbuck'--Good Sport with a Herd--End of the Trip

CHAPTER XI.

Excitement of Elephant-shooting--An Unexpected Visitor--A Long Run
with a Buck--Hard Work Rewarded--A Glorious Bay--End of a Hard Day's
Work--Bee-hunters--Disasters of Elk-hunting--Bran Wounded--'Old Smut's'
Buck--Boar at Hackgalla--Death of 'Old Smut'--Scenery from the Perewelle
Mountains--Diabolical Death of 'Merriman'--Scene of the Murder

CHAPTER XII.

A Jungle Trip

CHAPTER XIII.

Conclusion




THE RIFLE AND HOUND.



CHAPTER I.

Wild Country-Dealings in the Marvellous-Enchanting Moments The Wild
Elephant of Ceylon--'Rogues'-Elephant Slaughter-Thick Jungles-Character
of the Country-Varieties of Game in Ceylon--'Battery for Ceylon
Sport'-The Elk or 'Samber Deer'-Deer-coursing.

It is a difficult task to describe a wild country so exactly, that a
stranger's eye shall at once be made acquainted with its scenery and
character by the description. And yet this is absolutely necessary, if
the narration of sports in foreign countries is supposed to interest
those who have never had the opportunity of enjoying them. The want of
graphic description of localities in which the events have occurred, is
the principal cause of that tediousness which generally accompanies
the steady perusal of a sporting work. You can read twenty pages with
interest, but a monotony soon pervades it, and sport then assumes an
appearance of mere slaughter.

Now, the actual killing of an animal, the death itself, is not sport,
unless the circumstances connected with it are such as to create that
peculiar feeling which can only be expressed by the word 'sport.'
This feeling cannot exist in the heart of a butcher; he would as soon
slaughter a fine buck by tying him to a post and knocking him down,
as he would shoot him in his wild native haunts--the actual moment of
death, the fact of killing, is his enjoyment. To a true sportsman the
enjoyment of a sport increases in proportion to the wildness of the
country. Catch a six-pound trout in a quiet mill-pond in a populous
manufacturing neighbourhood, with well-cultivated meadows on either side
of the stream, fat cattle grazing on the rich pasturage, and, perhaps,
actually watching you as you land your fish: it may be sport. But catch
a similar fish far from the haunts of men, in a boiling rocky torrent
surrounded by heathery mountains, where the shadow of a rod has seldom
been reflected in the stream, and you cease to think the former fish
worth catching; still he is the same size, showed the same courage, had
the same perfection of condition, and yet you cannot allow that it was
sport compared with this wild stream. If you see no difference in the
excitement, you are not a sportsman; you would as soon catch him in
a washing tub, and you should buy your fish when you require him; but
never use a rod, or you would disgrace the hickory.

This feeling of a combination of wild country with the presence of the
game itself, to form a real sport, is most keenly manifested when we
turn our attention to the rifle. This noble weapon is thrown away in an
enclosed country. The smooth-bore may and does afford delightful sport
upon our cultivated fields; but even that pleasure is doubled when
those enclosures no longer intervene, and the wide-spreading moors and
morasses of Scotland give an idea of freedom and undisturbed nature. Who
can compare grouse with partridge shooting? Still the difference exists,
not so much in the character of the bird as in the features of the
country. It is the wild aspect of the heathery moor without a bound,
except the rugged outline of the mountains upon the sky, that gives
such a charm to the grouse-shooting in Scotland, and renders the
deer-stalking such a favourite sport among the happy few who can enjoy
it.

All this proves that the simple act of killing is not sport; if it were,
the Zoological Gardens would form as fine a field to an elephant shot as
the wildest Indian jungle.

Man is a bloodthirsty animal, a beast of prey, instinctively; but let
us hope that a true sportsman is not savage, delighting in nothing but
death, but that his pursuits are qualified by a love of nature, of noble
scenery, of all the wonderful productions which the earth gives forth
in different latitudes. He should thoroughly understand the nature and
habits of every beast or bird that he looks upon as game. This last
attribute is indispensable; without it he may kill, but he is not a
sportsman.

We have, therefore, come to the conclusion that the character of a
country influences the character of the sport. The first question,
therefore, that an experienced man would ask at the recital of a
sporting anecdote would be, 'What kind of country is it?' That being
clearly described to him, he follows you through every word of your tale
with a true interest, and in fact joins in imagination in the chase.

There is one great drawback to the publication of sporting
adventures--they always appear to deal not a little in the marvellous;
and this effect is generally heightened by the use of the first person
in writing, which at all events may give an egotistical character to a
work. This, however, cannot easily be avoided, if a person is describing
his own adventures, and he labours under the disadvantage of being
criticised by readers who do not know him personally, and may,
therefore, give him credit for gross exaggeration.

It is this feeling that deters many men who have passed through years of
wild sports from publishing an account of them. The fact of being able
to laugh in your sleeve at the ignorance of a reader who does not credit
you, is but a poor compensation for being considered a better shot with
a long bow than with a rifle. Often have I pitied Gordon Cumming when
I have heard him talked of as a palpable Munchausen, by men who never
fired a rifle, or saw a wild beast, except in a cage; and still these
men form the greater proportion of the 'readers' of these works.

Men who have not seen, cannot understand the grandeur of wild sports in
a wild country. There is an indescribable feeling of supremacy in a man
who understands his game thoroughly, when he stands upon some elevated
point and gazes over the wild territory of savage beasts. He feels
himself an invader upon the solitudes of nature. The very stillness of
the scene is his delight. There is a mournful silence in the calmness of
the evening, when the tropical sun sinks upon the horizon--a conviction
that man has left this region undisturbed to its wild tenants. No hum of
distant voices, no rumbling of busy wheels, no cries of domestic animals
meet the ear. He stands upon a wilderness, pathless and untrodden by
the foot of civilisation, where no sound is ever heard but that of the
elements, when the thunder rolls among the towering forests or the wind
howls along the plains. He gazes far, far into the distance, where the
blue mountains melt into an indefinite haze; he looks above him to the
rocky pinnacles which spring from the level plain, their swarthy cliffs
glistening from the recent shower, and patches of rich verdure clinging
to precipices a thousand feet above him. His eye stretches along the
grassy plains, taking at one full glance a survey of woods, and rocks,
and streams; and imperceptibly his mind wanders to thoughts of home,
and in one moment scenes long left behind are conjured up by memory,
and incidents are recalled which banish for a time the scene before him.
Lost for a moment in the enchanting power of solitude, where fancy and
reality combine in their most bewitching forms, he is suddenly roused by
a distant sound made doubly loud by the surrounding silence--the shrill
trumpet of an elephant. He wakes from his reverie; the reality of the
present scene is at once manifested. He stands within a wilderness where
the monster of the forest holds dominion; he knows not what a day, not
even what a moment, may bring forth; he trusts in a protecting Power,
and in the heavy rifle, and he is shortly upon the track of the king of
beasts.

The king of beasts is generally acknowledged to be the 'lion'; but no
one who has seen a wild elephant can doubt for a moment that the title
belongs to him in his own right. Lord of all created animals in might
and sagacity, the elephant roams through his native forests. He browses
upon the lofty branches, upturns young trees from sheer malice, and from
plain to forest he stalks majestically at break of day 'monarch of all
he surveys.'

A person who has never seen a wild elephant can form no idea of his
real character, either mentally or physically. The unwieldy and
sleepy-looking beast, who, penned up in his cage at a menagerie,
receives a sixpence in his trunk, and turns round with difficulty to
deposit it in a box; whose mental powers seem to be concentrated in
the idea of receiving buns tossed into a gaping mouth by children's
hands,--this very beast may have come from a warlike stock. His sire may
have been the terror of a district, a pitiless highwayman, whose soul
thirsted for blood; who, lying in wait in some thick bush, would rush
upon the unwary passer-by, and know no pleasure greater than the act
of crushing his victim to a shapeless mass beneath his feet. How little
does his tame sleepy son resemble him! Instead of browsing on the rank
vegetation of wild pasturage, he devours plum-buns; instead of bathing
his giant form in the deep rivers and lakes of his native land, he
steps into a stone-lined basin to bathe before the eyes of a pleased
multitude, the whole of whom form their opinion of elephants in general
from the broken-spirited monster which they see before them.

I have even heard people exclaim, upon hearing anecdotes of
elephant-hunting, 'Poor things!'

Poor things, indeed! I should like to see the very person who thus
expresses his pity, going at his best pace, with a savage elephant
after him: give him a lawn to run upon if he likes, and see the elephant
gaining a foot in every yard of the chase, fire in his eye, fury in his
headlong charge; and would not the flying gentleman who lately exclaimed
'Poor thing!' be thankful to the lucky bullet that would save him from
destruction?

There are no animals more misunderstood than elephants; they are
naturally savage, wary, and revengeful; displaying as great courage when
in their wild state as any animal known. The fact of their great natural
sagacity renders them the more dangerous as foes. Even when tamed, there
are many that are not safe for a stranger to approach, and they are then
only kept in awe by the sharp driving hook of the mohout.

In their domesticated state I have seen them perform wonders of sagacity
and strength; but I have nothing to do with tame elephants; there are
whole books written upon the subject, although the habits of an elephant
can be described in a few words.

All wild animals in a tropical country avoid the sun. They wander forth
to feed upon the plains in the evening and during the night, and they
return to the jungle shortly after sunrise.

Elephants have the same habits. In those parts of the country where such
pasturage abounds as bamboo, lemon grass, sedges on the banks of rivers,
lakes, and swamps, elephants are sure to be found at such seasons as
are most propitious for the growth of these plants. When the dry weather
destroys this supply of food in one district, they migrate to another
part of the country.

They come forth to feed about 4 P.M., and they invariably, retire to
the thickest and most thorny jungle in the neighbourhood of their
feeding-place by 7 A.M. In these impenetrable haunts they consider
themselves secure from aggression.

The period of gestation with an elephant is supposed to be two years,
and the time occupied in attaining full growth is about sixteen years.
The whole period of life is supposed to be a hundred years, but my own
opinion would increase that period by fifty.

The height of elephants varies to a great degree, and in all cases is
very deceiving. In Ceylon, an elephant is measured at the shoulder, and
nine feet at this point is a very large animal. There is no doubt that
many elephants far exceed this, as I have shot them so large that two
tall men could lie at full length from the point of the forefoot to
the shoulder; but this is not a common size: the average height at the
shoulder would be about seven feet.*(*The males 7 ft.6 in., the females
7 ft., at the shoulder.)

Not more than one in three hundred has tusks; they are merely provided
with short grubbers, projecting generally about three inches from the
upper jaw, and about two inches in diameter; these are called 'tushes'
in Ceylon, and are of so little value that they are not worth extracting
from the head. They are useful to the elephants in hooking on to a
branch and tearing it down.

Elephants are gregarious, and the average number in a herd is about
eight, although they frequently form bodies of fifty and even eighty in
one troop. Each herd consists of a very large proportion of females, and
they are constantly met without a single bull in their number. I have
seen some small herds formed exclusively of bulls, but this is very
rare. The bull is much larger than the female, and is generally more
savage. His habits frequently induce him to prefer solitude to a
gregarious life. He then becomes doubly vicious. He seldom strays many
miles from one locality, which he haunts for many years. He becomes what
is termed a 'rogue.' He then waylays the natives, and in fact becomes
a scourge to the neighbourhood, attacking the inoffensive without
the slightest provocation, carrying destruction into the natives'
paddy-fields, and perfectly regardless of night fires or the usual
precautions for scaring wild beasts.

The daring pluck of these 'rogues' is only equalled by their extreme
cunning. Endowed with that wonderful power of scent peculiar to
elephants, he travels in the day-time DOWN the wind; thus nothing can
follow upon his track without his knowledge. He winds his enemy as the
cautious hunter advances noiselessly upon his track, and he stands with
ears thrown forward, tail erect, trunk thrown high in the air, with its
distended tip pointed to the spot from which he winds the silent but
approaching danger. Perfectly motionless does he stand, like a statue in
ebony, the very essence of attention, every nerve of scent and hearing
stretched to its cracking point; not a muscle moves, not a sound of a
rustling branch against his rough sides; he is a mute figure of wild and
fierce eagerness. Meanwhile, the wary tracker stoops to the ground,
and with a practised eye pierces the tangled brushwood in search of his
colossal feet. Still farther and farther he silently creeps forward,
when suddenly a crash bursts through the jungle; the moment has arrived
for the ambushed charge, and the elephant is upon him.

What increases the danger is the uncertainty prevailing in all the
movements of a 'rogue'. You may perhaps see him upon a plain or in a
forest. As you advance, he retreats, or he may at once charge. Should he
retreat, you follow him; but you may shortly discover that he is leading
you to some favourite haunt of thick jungle or high grass, from which,
when you least expect it, he will suddenly burst out in full charge upon
you.

Next to a 'rogue' in ferocity, and even more persevering in the pursuit
of her victim, is a female elephant when her young one has been killed.
In such a case she will generally follow up her man until either he
or she is killed. If any young elephants are in the herd, the mothers
frequently prove awkward customers.

Elephant-shooting is doubtless the most dangerous of all sports if the
game is invariably followed up; but there is a great difference between
elephant-killing and elephant-hunting; the latter is sport, the former
is slaughter.

Many persons who have killed elephants know literally nothing about the
sport, and they may ever leave Ceylon with the idea that an elephant is
not a dangerous animal. Their elephants are killed in this way, viz.:

The party of sportsmen, say two or three, arrive at a certain district.
The headman is sent for from the village; he arrives. The enquiry
respecting the vicinity of elephants is made; a herd is reported to be
in the neighbourhood, and trackers and watchers are sent out to find
them.

In the meantime the tent is pitched, our friends are employed in
unpacking the guns, and, after some hours have elapsed, the trackers
return: they have found the herd, and the watchers are left to observe
them.

The guns are loaded and the party starts. The trackers run quickly on
the track until they meet one of the watchers who has been sent back
upon the track by the other watchers to give the requisite information
of the movements of the herd since the trackers left. One tracker
now leads the way, and they cautiously proceed. The boughs are heard
slightly rustling as the unconscious elephants are fanning the flies
from their bodies within a hundred yards of the guns.

The jungle is open and good, interspersed with plots of rank grass; and
quietly following the head tracker, into whose hands our friends have
committed themselves, they follow like hounds under the control of a
huntsman. The tracker is a famous fellow, and he brings up his
employers in a masterly manner within ten paces of the still unconscious
elephants. He now retreats quietly behind the guns, and the sport
begins. A cloud of smoke from a regular volley, a crash through the
splintering branches as the panic-stricken herd rush from the scene of
conflict, and it is all over. X. has killed two, Y. has killed one,
and Z. knocked down one, but he got up again and got away; total, three
bagged. Our friends now return to the tent, and, after perhaps a month
of this kind of shooting, they arrive at their original headquarters,
having bagged perhaps twenty elephants. They give their opinion upon
elephant-shooting, and declare it to be capital sport, but there is no
danger in it, as the elephants INVARIABLY RUN AWAY.

Let us imagine ourselves in the position of the half-asleep and
unsuspecting herd. We are lying down in a doze during the heat of
the day, and our senses are half benumbed by a sense of sleep. We are
beneath the shade of a large tree, and we do not dream that danger is
near us.

A frightful scream suddenly scatters our wandering senses. It is a rogue
elephant upon us! It was the scream of his trumpet that we heard! and
he is right among us. How we should bolt! How we should run at the first
start until we could get a gun! But let him continue this pursuit, and
how long would he be without a ball in his head?

It is precisely the same in attacking a herd of elephants or any other
animals unawares; they are taken by surprise, and are for the moment
panic-stricken. But let our friends X., Y., Z., who have just bagged
three elephants so easily, continue the pursuit, hunt the remaining
portion of the herd down till one by one they have nearly all fallen to
the bullet--X., Y., Z. will have had enough of it; they will be blinded
by perspiration, torn by countless thorns, as they have rushed through
the jungles determined not to lose sight of their game, soaked to the
skin as they have waded through intervening streams, and will entirely
have altered their opinion as to elephants invariably running away,
as they will very probably have seen one turn sharp round from the
retreating herd, and charge straight into them when they least expected
it. At any rate, after a hunt of this kind they can form some opinion of
the excitement of the true sport.

The first attack upon a herd by a couple of first-rate elephant-shots
frequently ends the contest in a few seconds by the death of every
elephant. I have frequently seen a small herd of five or six elephants
annihilated almost in as many seconds after a well-planned approach in
thick jungle, when they have been discovered standing in a crowd and
presenting favourable shots. In such an instance the sport is so soon
concluded that the only excitement consists in the cautious advance to
the attack through bad jungle.

As a rule, the pursuit of elephants through bad, thorny jungles should
if possible be avoided: the danger is in many cases extreme, although
the greater portion of the herd may at other times be perhaps easily
killed. There is no certainty in a shot. An elephant may be discerned by
the eye looming in an apparent mist formed by the countless intervening
twigs and branches which veil him like a screen of network. To reach the
fatal spot the ball must pass through perhaps fifty little twigs, one of
which, if struck obliquely, turns the bullet, and there is no answering
for the consequence. There are no rules, however, without exceptions,
and in some instances the following of the game through the thickest
jungle can hardly be avoided.

The character of the country in Ceylon is generally very unfavourable
to sport of all kinds. The length of the island is about two hundred and
eighty miles, by one hundred and fifty in width; the greater portion
of this surface is covered with impenetrable jungles, which form secure
coverts for countless animals.

The centre of the island is mountainous, torrents from which, form the
sources of the numerous rivers by which Ceylon is so well watered. The
low country is flat. The soil throughout the island is generally poor
and sandy.

This being the character of the country, and vast forests rendered
impenetrable by tangled underwood forming the principal features of the
landscape, a person arriving at Ceylon for the purpose of enjoying its
wild sports would feel an inexpressible disappointment.

Instead of mounting a good horse, as he might have fondly anticipated,
and at once speeding over trackless plains till so far from human
habitations that the territories of beasts commence, he finds himself
walled in by jungle on either side of the highway. In vain he asks for
information. He finds the neighbourhood of Galle, his first landing
place, densely populated; he gets into the coach for Colombo. Seventy
miles of close population and groves of cocoa-nut trees are passed, and
he reaches the capital. This is worse and worse--he has seen no signs
of wild country during his long journey, and Colombo appears to be the
height of civilisation. He books his place for Kandy; he knows that
is in the very centre of Ceylon--there surely must be sport there, he
thinks.

The morning gun fires from the Colombo fort at 5 A.M. and the
coach starts. Miles are passed, and still the country is thickly
populated--paddy cultivation in all the flats and hollows, and even the
sides of the hills are carefully terraced out in a laborious system of
agriculture. There can be no shooting here!

Sixty miles are passed; the top of the Kaduganava Pass is reached,
eighteen hundred feet above the sea level, the road walled with jungle
on either side. From the summit of this pass our newly arrived sportsman
gazes with despair. Far as the eye can reach over a vast extent of
country, mountain and valley, hill and dale, without one open spot, are
clothed alike in one dark screen of impervious forest.

He reaches Kandy, a civilised town surrounded by hills of jungle--that
interminable jungle!--and at Kandy he may remain, or, better still,
return again to England, unless he can get some well-known Ceylon
sportsman to pilot him through the apparently pathless forests, and
in fact to 'show him sport.' This is not easily effected. Men who
understand the sport are not over fond of acting 'chaperon' to a young
hand, as a novice must always detract from the sport in some degree.
In addition to this, many persons do not exactly know themselves; and,
although the idea of shooting elephants appears very attractive at a
distance, the pleasure somewhat abates when the sportsman is forced to
seek for safety in a swift pair of heels.

I shall now proceed to give a description of the various sports in
Ceylon--a task for which the constant practice of many years has
afforded ample incident.

The game of Ceylon consists of elephants, buffaloes, elk, spotted deer,
red or the paddy-field deer*(*A small species of deer found in the
island), mouse deer, hogs, bears, leopards, hares, black partridge,
red-legged partridge, pea-fowl, jungle-fowl, quail, snipe, ducks,
widgeon, teal, golden and several kinds of plover, a great variety of
pigeons, and among the class of reptiles are innumerable snakes, etc.,
and the crocodile.

The acknowledged sports of Ceylon are elephant-shooting,
buffalo-shooting, deer-shooting, elk-hunting, and deer-coursing: the two
latter can only be enjoyed by a resident in the island, as of course the
sport is dependent upon a pack of fine hounds. Although the wild boar is
constantly killed, I do not reckon him among the sports of the country,
as he is never sought for; death and destruction to the hounds generally
being attendant upon his capture. The bear and leopard also do not form
separate sports; they are merely killed when met with.

In giving an account of each kind of sport I shall explain the habits
of the animal and the features of the country wherein every incident
occurs, Ceylon scenery being so diversified that no general description
could give a correct idea of Ceylon sports.

The guns are the first consideration. After the first year of my
experience I had four rifles made to order, which have proved themselves
perfect weapons in all respects, and exactly adapted for heavy game.
They are double-barrelled, No. 10 bores, and of such power in metal that
they weigh fifteen pounds each. I consider them perfection; but should
others consider them too heavy, a pound taken from the weight of the
barrels would make a perceptible difference. I would in all cases
strongly deprecate the two grooved rifle for wild sports, on account of
the difficulty in loading quickly. A No. 10 twelve-grooved rifle will
carry a conical ball of two ounces and a half, and can be loaded as
quickly as a smooth-bore. Some persons prefer the latter to rifles
for elephant-shooting, but I cannot myself understand why a decidedly
imperfect weapon should be used when the rifle offers such superior
advantages. At twenty and even thirty paces a good smooth-bore will
carry a ball with nearly the same precision as a rifle; but in a country
full of various large game there is no certainty, when the ball is
rammed down, at what object it is to be aimed. A buffalo or deer may
cross the path at a hundred yards, and the smooth-bore is useless; on
the other hand, the rifle is always ready for whatever may appear.

My battery consists of one four-ounce rifle (a single barrel) weighing
twenty-one pounds, one long two-ounce rifle (single barrel) weighing
sixteen pounds, and four double-barrelled rifles, No. 10 weighing
each fifteen pounds. Smooth-bores I count for nothing, although I have
frequently used them.

So much for guns. It may therefore be summed up that the proper battery
for Ceylon shooting would be four large-bored double-barrelled rifles,
say from No. 10 to No. 12 in size, but all to be the same bore, so as to
prevent confusion in loading. Persons may suit their own fancy as to
the weight of their guns, bearing in mind that single barrels are very
useless things.

Next to the 'Rifle' in the order of description comes the 'Hound.'

The 'elk' is his acknowledged game, and an account of this animal's size
and strength will prove the necessity of a superior breed of hound.

The 'elk' is a Ceylon blunder and a misnomer. The animal thus called is
a 'samber deer,' well known in India as the largest of all Asiatic deer.

A buck in his prime will stand fourteen hands high at the shoulder, and
will weigh 600 pounds, live weight. He is in colour dark brown, with a
fine mane of coarse bristly hair of six inches in length; the rest of
his body is covered with the same coarse hair of about two inches in
length. I have a pair of antlers in my possession that are thirteen
inches round the burr, and the same size beneath the first branch, and
three feet four inches in length; this, however, is a very unusual size.

The elk has seldom more than six points to his antlers. The low-country
elk are much larger than those on the highlands; the latter are seldom
more than from twelve to thirteen hands high; and of course their weight
is proportionate, that of a buck in condition being about 400 pounds
when gralloched. I have killed them much heavier than this on the
mountains, but I have given about the average weight.

The habits of this animal are purely nocturnal. He commences his
wanderings at sunset, and retires to the forest at break of day. He
is seldom found in greater numbers than two or three together, and is
generally alone. When brought to bay he fights to the last, and charges
man and hound indiscriminately, a choice hound killed being often the
price of victory.

The country in which he is hunted is in the mountainous districts of
Ceylon. Situated at an elevation of 6,200 feet above the sea is Newera
Ellia, the sanatorium of the island. Here I have kept a pack and hunted
elk for some years, the delightful coolness of the temperature (seldom
above 66 degrees Fahr.) rendering the sport doubly enjoyable. The
principal features of this country being a series of wild marsh,
plains, forests, torrents, mountains and precipices, a peculiar hound is
required for the sport.

A pack of thoroughbred fox-hounds would never answer. They would pick
up a cold scent and open upon it before they were within a mile of their
game. Roused from his morning nap, the buck would snuff the breeze, and
to the distant music give an attentive ear, then shake the dew from his
rough hide, and away over rocks and torrents, down the steep
mountain sides, through pathless forests; and woe then to the pack of
thoroughbreds, whose persevering notes would soon be echoed by the rocky
steeps, far, far away from any chance of return, lost in the trackless
jungles and ravines many miles from kennel, a prey to leopards and
starvation! I have proved this by experience, having brought a pack of
splendid hounds from England, only one of which survived a few months'
hunting.

The hound required for elk-hunting is a cross between the fox-hound
and blood-hound, of great size and courage, with as powerful a voice
as possible. He should be trained to this sport from a puppy, and his
natural sagacity soon teaches him not to open unless upon a hot scent,
or about two hundred yards from his game; thus the elk is not disturbed
until the hound is at full speed upon his scent, and he seldom gets a
long start. Fifteen couple of such hounds in full cry put him at his
best pace, which is always tried to the uttermost by a couple or two of
fast and pitiless lurchers who run ahead of the pack, the object
being to press him at first starting, so as to blow him at the very
commencement: this is easily effected, as he is full of food, and it is
his nature always to take off straight UP the hill when first disturbed.
When blown he strikes down hill, and makes at great speed for the
largest and deepest stream; in this he turns to bay, and tries the
mettle of the finest hounds.

The great enemy to a pack is the leopard. He pounces from the branch of
a tree upon a stray hound, and soon finishes him, unless of great size
and courage, in which case the cowardly brute is soon beaten off. This
forms another reason for the choice of large hounds.

The next sport is 'deer-coursing.' This is one of the most delightful
kinds of sport in Ceylon. The game is the axis or spotted deer, and the
open plains in many parts of the low country afford splendid ground for
both greyhound and horse.

The buck is about 250 pounds live weight, of wonderful speed and great
courage, armed with long and graceful antlers as sharp as needles. He
will suddenly turn to bay upon the hard ground, and charge his pursuers,
and is more dangerous to the greyhounds than the elk, from his wonderful
activity, and from the fact that he is coursed by only a pair of
greyhounds, instead of being hunted by a pack.

Pure greyhounds of great size and courage are best adapted for this
sport. They cannot afford to lose speed by a cross with slower hounds.



CHAPTER II.

Newera Ellia--The Turn-out for Elk-Hunting--Elk-Hunting--Elk turned to
Bay--The Boar.

Where shall I begin? This is a momentous question, when, upon glancing
back upon past years, a thousand incidents jostle each other for
precedence. How shall I describe them? This, again, is easier asked than
answered. A journal is a dry description, mingling the uninteresting
with the brightest moments of sport. No, I will not write a journal; it
would be endless and boring. I shall begin with the present as it is,
and call up the past as I think proper.

Here, then, I am in my private sanctum, my rifles all arranged in their
respective stands above the chimney-piece, the stags' horns round walls
hung with horn-cases, powder-flasks and the various weapons of the
chase. Even as I write the hounds are yelling in the kennel.

The thermometer is at 62 degrees Fahr., and it is mid-day. It never
exceeds 72 degrees in the hottest weather, and sometimes falls below
freezing point at night. The sky is spotless and the air calm. The
fragrance of mignonettes, and a hundred flowers that recall England,
fills the air. Green fields of grass and clover, neatly fenced, surround
a comfortable house and grounds. Well-fed cattle of the choicest breeds,
and English sheep, are grazing in the paddocks. Well-made roads and
gravel walks run through the estate. But a few years past, and this was
all wilderness.

Dense forest reigned where now not even the stump of a tree is standing;
the wind howled over hill and valley, the dank moss hung from the
scathed branches, the deep morass filled the hollows; but all is changed
by the hand of civilisation and industry. The dense forests and rough
plains, which still form the boundaries of the cultivated land, only add
to the beauty. The monkeys and parrots are even now chattering among
the branches, and occasionally the elephant in his nightly wanderings
trespasses upon the fields, unconscious of the oasis within his
territory of savage nature.

The still, starlight night is awakened by the harsh bark of the elk; the
lofty mountains, grey with the silvery moonlight, echo back the sound;
and the wakeful hounds answer the well-known cry by a prolonged and
savage yell.

This is 'Newera Ellia,' the sanatorium of Ceylon, the most perfect
climate of the world. It now boasts of a handsome church, a public
reading-room, a large hotel, the barracks, and about twenty private
residences.

The adjacent country, of comparatively table land, occupies an extent
of some thirty miles in length, varying in altitude from 6,200 to 7,000
feet, forming a base for the highest peaks in Ceylon, which rise to
nearly 9,000 feet.

Alternate large plains, separated by belts of forest, rapid rivers,
waterfalls, precipices, and panoramic views of boundless extent, form
the features of this country, which, combined with the sports of the
place, render a residence at Newera Ellia a life of health, luxury, and
independence.

The high road from Colombo passes over the mountains through Newera
Ellia to Badulla, from which latter place there is a bridle road,
through the best shooting districts in Ceylon, to the seaport town of
Batticaloa, and from thence to Trincomalee. The relative distances of
Newera Ellia are, from Galle, 185 miles; from Colombo, 115 miles; from
Kandy, 47 miles; from Badulla, 36 miles; from Batticaloa, 148 miles.
Were it not for the poverty of the soil, Newera Ellia would long ago
have become a place of great importance, as the climate is favourable
to the cultivation of all English produce; but an absence of lime in the
soil, and the cost of applying it artificially, prohibit the cultivation
of all grain, and restrict the produce of the land to potatoes and other
vegetables. Nevertheless, many small settlers earn a good subsistence,
although this has latterly been rendered precarious by the appearance of
the well-known potato disease.

Newera Ellia has always been a favourite place of resort during the
fashionable months, from the commencement of January to the middle
of May. At that time the rainy season commences, and visitors rapidly
disappear.

All strangers remark the scanty accommodation afforded to the numerous
visitors. To see the number of people riding and walking round the
Newera Ellia plain, it appears a marvel how they can be housed in the
few dwellings that exist. There is an endless supply of fine timber in
the forests, and powerful sawmills are already erected; but the island
is, like its soil, 'poor.' Its main staple, 'coffee,' does not pay
sufficiently to enable the proprietors of estates to indulge in the
luxury of a house at Newera Ellia. Like many watering-places in England,
it is overcrowded at one season and deserted at another, the only
permanent residents being comprised in the commandant, the officer in
command of the detachment of troops, the government agent, the doctor,
the clergyman, and our own family.

Dull enough! some persons may exclaim; and so it would be to any but a
sportsman; but the jungles teem with large game, and Newera Ellia is
in a central position, as the best sporting country is only three days'
journey, or one hundred miles, distant. Thus, at any time, the guns may
be packed up, and, with tents and baggage sent on some days in advance,
a fortnight's or a month's war may be carried on against the elephants
without much trouble.

The turn-out for elk-hunting during the fashionable season at Newera
Ellia is sometimes peculiarly exciting. The air is keen and frosty, the
plains snow-white with the crisp hoar frost, and even at the early hour
of 6 A.M. parties of ladies may be seen urging their horses round the
plain on their way to the appointed meet. Here we are waiting with the
anxious pack, perhaps blessing some of our more sleepy friends for not
turning out a little earlier. Party after party arrives, including
many of the fair sex, and the rosy tips to all countenances attest the
quality of the cold even in Ceylon.

There is something peculiarly inspiriting in the early hour of sunrise
upon these mountains--an indescribable lightness in the atmosphere,
owing to the great elevation, which takes a wonderful effect upon
the spirits. The horses and the hounds feel its influence in an equal
degree; the former, who are perhaps of sober character in the hot
climate, now champ the bit and paw the ground: their owners hardly know
them by the change.

We have frequently mustered as many as thirty horses at a meet; but on
these occasions a picked spot is chosen where the sport may be easily
witnessed by those who are unaccustomed to it. The horses may, in these
instances, be available, but as a rule they are perfectly useless in
elk-hunting, as the plains are so boggy that they would be hock-deep
every quarter of a mile. Thus no person can thoroughly enjoy elk-hunting
who is not well accustomed to it, as it is a sport conducted entirely on
foot, and the thinness of the air in this elevated region is very trying
to the lungs in hard exercise. Thoroughly sound in wind and limb, with
no superfluous flesh, must be the man who would follow the hounds in
this wild country--through jungles, rivers, plains and deep ravines,
sometimes from sunrise to sunset without tasting food since the previous
evening, with the exception of a cup of coffee and a piece of toast
before starting. It is trying work, but it is a noble sport: no weapon
but the hunting-knife; no certainty as to the character of the game that
may be found; it may be either an elk, or a boar, or a leopard, and yet
the knife and the good hounds are all that can be trusted in.

It is a glorious sport certainly to a man who thoroughly understands
it; the voice of every hound familiar to his ear; the particular kind of
game that is found is at once known to him, long before he is in view,
by the style of the hunting. If an elk is found, the hounds follow with
a burst straight as a line, and at a killing pace, directly up the
hill, till he at length turns and bends his headlong course for some
stronghold in a deep river to bay. Listening to the hounds till certain
of their course, a thorough knowledge of the country at once tells the
huntsman of their destination, and away he goes.

He tightens his belt by a hole, and steadily he starts at a long,
swinging trot, having made up his mind for a day of it. Over hills and
valleys, through tangled and pathless forests, but all well known to
him, steady he goes at the same pace on the level, easy through the bogs
and up the hills, extra steam down hill, and stopping for a moment to
listen for the hounds on every elevated spot. At length he hears them!
No, it was a bird. Again he fancies that he hears a distant sound--was
it the wind? No; there it is--it is old Smut's voice--he is at bay!
Yoick to him! he shouts till his lungs are well-nigh cracked, and
through thorns and jungles, bogs and ravines, he rushes towards the
welcome sound. Thick-tangled bushes armed with a thousand hooked thorns
suddenly arrest his course; it is the dense fringe of underwood that
borders every forest; the open plain is within a few yards of him. The
hounds in a mad chorus are at bay, and the woods ring again with the
cheering sound. Nothing can stop him now--thorns, or clothes, or flesh
must go--something must give way as he bursts through them and stands
upon the plain.

There they are in that deep pool formed by the river as it sweeps round
the rock. A buck! a noble fellow! Now he charges at the hounds, and
strikes the foremost beneath the water with his fore-feet; up they come
again to the surface--they hear their master's well-known shout--they
look round and see his welcome figure on the steep bank. Another moment,
a tremendous splash, and he is among his hounds, and all are swimming
towards their noble game. At them he comes with a fierce rush. Avoid him
as you best can, ye hunters, man and hounds!

Down the river the buck now swims, sometimes galloping over the
shallows, sometimes wading shoulder-deep, sometimes swimming through the
deep pools. Now he dashes down the fierce rapids and leaps the opposing
rocks, between which, the torrent rushes at a frightful pace. The hounds
are after him; the roaring of the water joins in their wild chorus; the
loud holloa of the huntsman is heard above every sound as he cheers the
pack on. He runs along the bank of the river, and again the enraged buck
turns to bay. He has this time taken a strong position: he stands in a
swift rapid about two feet deep; his thin legs cleave the stream as it
rushes past, and every hound is swept away as he attempts to stem the
current. He is a perfect picture: his nostrils are distended, his mane
is bristled up, his eyes flash, and he adds his loud bark of defiance to
the din around him. The hounds cannot touch him. Now for the huntsman's
part; he calls the stanchest seizers to his side, gives them a cheer on,
and steps into the torrent, knife in hand. Quick as lightning the buck
springs to the attack; but he has exposed himself, and at that moment
the tall lurchers are upon his ears; the huntsman leaps upon one side
and plunges the knife behind his shoulder. A tremendous struggle takes
place--the whole pack is upon him; still his dying efforts almost free
him from their hold: a mass of spray envelopes the whole scene. Suddenly
he falls--he dies--it is all over. The hounds are called off, and are
carefully examined for wounds.

The huntsman is now perhaps some miles from home, he, therefore, cuts
a long pole, and tying a large bunch of grass to one end, he sticks the
other end into the ground close to the river's edge where the elk is
lying. This marks the spot. He calls his hounds together and returns
homeward, and afterwards sends men to cut the buck up and bring the
flesh. Elk venison is very good, but is at all times more like beef than
English venison.

The foregoing may be considered a general description of elk-hunting,
although the incidents of the sport necessarily vary considerably.

The boar is our dangerous adversary, and he is easily known by the
character of the run. The hounds seldom open with such a burst upon the
scent as they do with an elk. The run is much slower; he runs down this
ravine and up that, never going straight away, and he generally comes to
bay after a run of ten minutes' duration.

A boar always chooses the very thickest part of the jungle as his
position for a bay, and from this he makes continual rushes at the
hounds.

The huntsman approaches the scene of the combat, breaking his way with
difficulty through the tangled jungle, until within about twenty yards
of the bay. He now cheers the hounds on to the attack, and if they are
worthy of their name, they instantly rush in to the boar regardless of
wounds. The huntsman is aware of the seizure by the grunting of the boar
and the tremendous confusion in the thick jungle; he immediately rushes
to the assistance of the pack, knife in hand.

A scene of real warfare meets his view--gaping wounds upon his best
hounds, the boar rushing through the jungle covered with dogs, and he
himself becomes the immediate object of his fury when observed.

No time is to be lost. Keeping behind the boar if possible, he rushes to
the bloody conflict, and drives the hunting-knife between the shoulders
in the endeavour to divide the spine. Should he happily effect this, the
boar falls stone dead; but if not, he repeats the thrust, keeping a good
look-out for the animal's tusks.

If the dogs were of not sufficient courage to rush in and seize the boar
when halloaed on, no man could approach him in a thick jungle with only
a hunting-knife, as he would in all probability have his inside ripped
out at the first charge. The animal is wonderfully active and ferocious,
and of immense power, constantly weighing 4 cwt.

The end of nearly every good seizer is being killed by a boar. The
better the dog the more likely he is to be killed, as he will be the
first to lead the attack, and in thick jungle he has no chance of
escaping from a wound.




CHAPTER III.

Minneria Lake--Brush with a Bull--An Awkward Vis-a-vis--A Bright
Thought--Bull Buffalo Receives his Small Change--What is Man?--Long Shot
with the Four-ounce--Charged by a Herd of Buffaloes--the Four-ounce
does Service--The 'Lola'--A Woman Killed by a Crocodile--Crocodile at
Bolgodde Lake--A Monster Crocodile--Death of a Crocodile.

THE foregoing description may serve as an introduction to the hill
sports of Ceylon. One animal, however, yet remains to be described, who
surpasses all others in dogged ferocity when once aroused. This is the
'buffalo.'

The haunts of this animal are in the hottest parts of Ceylon. In the
neighbourhood of lakes, swamps, and extensive plains, the buffalo exists
in large herds; wallowing in the soft mire, and passing two-thirds of
his time in the water itself, he may be almost termed amphibious.

He is about the size of a large ox, of immense bone and strength, very
active, and his hide is almost free from hair, giving a disgusting
appearance to his India-rubber-like skin. He carries his head in a
peculiar manner, the horns thrown back, and his nose projecting on a
level with his forehead, thus securing himself from a front shot in a
fatal part. This renders him a dangerous enemy, as he will receive
any number of balls from a small gun in the throat and chest without
evincing the least symptom of distress. The shoulder is the acknowledged
point to aim at, but from his disposition to face the guns this is a
difficult shot to obtain. Should he succeed in catching his antagonist,
his fury knows no bounds, and he gores his victim to death, trampling
and kneeling upon him till he is satisfied that life is extinct.

This sport would not be very dangerous in the forests, where the buffalo
could be easily stalked, and where escape would also be rendered less
difficult in case of accident; but as he is generally met with upon
the open plains, free from a single tree, he must be killed when once
brought to bay, or he will soon exhibit his qualifications for mischief.
There is a degree of uncertainty in their character which much increases
the danger of the pursuit. A buffalo may retreat at first sight with
every symptom of cowardice, and thus induce a too eager pursuit, when
he will suddenly become the assailant. I cannot explain their character
better than by describing the first wild buffaloes that I ever saw.

I had not been long in Ceylon, but having arrived in the island for the
sake of its wild sports, I had not been idle, and I had already made a
considerable bag of large game. Like most novices, however, I was guilty
of one great fault. I despised the game, and gave no heed to the many
tales of danger and hair-breadth escapes which attended the pursuit of
wild animals. This carelessness on my part arose from my first debut
having been extremely lucky; most shots had told well, and the animal
had been killed with such apparent ease that I had learnt to place an
implicit reliance in the rifle. The real fact was that I was like many
others; I had slaughtered a number of animals without understanding
their habits, and I was perfectly ignorant of the sport. This is now
many years ago, and it was then my first visit to the island. Some
places that were good spots for shooting in those days have since that
time been much disturbed, and are now no longer attractive to my eyes.
One of these places is Minneria Lake.

I was on a shooting trip accompanied by my brother, whom I will
designate as B. We had passed a toilsome day in pushing and dragging our
ponies for twenty miles along a narrow path through thick jungle, which
half-a-dozen natives in advance were opening before us with bill-hooks.
This had at one time been a good path, but was then overgrown. It is now
an acknowledged bridle road.

At 4 P.M., and eighty miles from Kandy, we emerged from the jungle, and
the view of Minneria Lake burst upon us, fully repaying us for our
day's march. It was a lovely afternoon. The waters of the lake; which
is twenty miles in circumference, were burnished by the setting sun.
The surrounding plains were as green as an English meadow, and beautiful
forest trees bordered the extreme boundaries of the plains like giant
warders of the adjoining jungle. Long promontories densely wooded
stretched far into the waters of the lake, forming sheltered nooks
and bays teeming with wild fowl. The deer browsed in herds on the wide
extent of plain, or lay beneath the shade of the spreading branches.
Every feature of lovely scenery was here presented. In some spots groves
of trees grew to the very water's edge; in others the wide plains, free
from a single stem or bush, stretched for miles along the edge of the
lake; thickly wooded hills bordered the extreme end of its waters, and
distant blue mountains mingled their dim summits with the clouds.

It was a lovely scene which we enjoyed in silence, while our ponies
feasted upon the rich grass.

The village of Minneria was three miles farther on, and our coolies,
servants, and baggage were all far behind us. We had, therefore, no
rifles or guns at hand, except a couple of shot-guns, which were carried
by our horsekeepers: for these we had a few balls.

For about half an hour we waited in the impatient expectation of the
arrival of our servants with the rifles. The afternoon was wearing away,
and they did not appear. We could wait no longer, but determined to
take a stroll and examine the country. We therefore left our horses and
proceeded.

The grass was most verdant, about the height of a field fit for the
scythe in England, but not so thick. From this the snipe arose at every
twenty or thirty paces, although, the ground was perfectly dry. Crossing
a large meadow, and skirting the banks of the lake, from which the ducks
and teal rose in large flocks, we entered a long neck of jungle which
stretched far into the lake. This was not above two hundred paces in
width, and we soon emerged upon an extensive plain bordered by fine
forest, the waters of the lake stretching far away upon our left, like a
sheet of gold. A few large rocks rose above the surface near the shore;
these were covered with various kinds of wild fowl. The principal
tenants of the plain were wild buffaloes.

A herd of about a hundred were lying in a swampy hollow about a quarter
of a mile from us: Several single bulls were dotted about the green
surface of the level plain, and on the opposite shores of the lake
were many dark patches undistinguishable in the distance; these were in
reality herds of buffaloes. There was not a sound in the wide expanse
before us, except the harsh cry of the water-fowl that our presence had
already disturbed--not a breath of air moved the leaves of the trees
which shaded us--and the whole scene was that of undisturbed nature.
The sun had now sunk low upon the horizon, and the air was comparatively
cool. The multitude of buffaloes enchanted us, and with our two light
double-barrels, we advanced to the attack of the herd before us.

We had not left the obscurity of the forest many seconds before we were
observed. The herd started up from their muddy bed and gazed at us with
astonishment. It was a fair open plain of some thousand acres, bounded
by the forest which we had just quitted on the one side, and by the lake
on the other; thus there was no cover for our advance, and all we could
do was to push on.

As we approached the herd they ranged up in a compact body, presenting
a very regular line in front. From this line seven large bulls stepped
forth, and from their vicious appearance seemed disposed to show fight.
In the meantime we were running up, and were soon within thirty paces of
them. At this distance the main body of the herd suddenly wheeled round
and thundered across the plain in full retreat. One of the bulls at the
same moment charged straight at us, but when within twenty paces of
the guns he turned to one side, and instantly received two balls in the
shoulder, B. and I having fired at the same moment. As luck would have
it, his blade-bone was thus broken, and he fell upon his knees, but
recovering himself in an instant, he retreated on three legs to the
water.

We now received assistance from an unexpected quarter. One of the large
bulls, his companions, charged after him with great fury, and soon
overtaking the wounded beast, he struck him full in the side, throwing
him over with a great shock on the muddy border of the lake. Here the
wounded animal lay unable to rise, and his conqueror commenced a slow
retreat across the plain.

Leaving B. to extinguish the wounded buffalo, I gave chase to the
retreating bull. At an easy canter he would gain a hundred paces and
then, turning, he would face me; throwing his nose up, and turning his
head to one side with a short grunt, he would advance quickly for a few
paces, and then again retreat as I continued to approach.

In this manner he led me a chase of about a mile along the banks of the
lake, but he appeared determined not to bring the fight to an issue at
close quarters. Cursing his cowardice, I fired a long shot at him, and
reloading my last spare ball I continued the chase, led on by ignorance
and excitement.

The lake in one part stretched in a narrow creek into the plain, and
the bull now directed his course into the angle formed by this turn.
I thought that I lead him in a corner, and, redoubling my exertions, I
gained upon him considerably. He retreated slowly to the very edge of
the creek, and I had gained so fast upon him that I was not thirty paces
distant, when he plunged into the water and commenced swimming across
the creek. This was not more than sixty yards in breadth, and I knew
that I could now bring him to action.

Running round the borders of the creek as fast as I could, I arrived at
the opposite side on his intended landing-place just as his black form
reared from the deep water and gained the shallows, into which I had
waded knee-deep to meet him. I now experienced that pleasure as he stood
sullenly eyeing me within fifteen paces. Poor stupid fellow! I would
willingly, in my ignorance, have betted ten to one upon the shot, so
certain was I of his death in another instant.

I took a quick but steady aim at his chest, at the point of connection
with the throat. The smoke of the barrel passed to one side;--there he
stood--he had not flinched; he literally had not moved a muscle.
The only change that had taken place was in his eye; this, which had
hitherto been merely sullen, was now beaming with fury; but his form was
as motionless as a statue. A stream of blood poured from a wound within
an inch of the spot at which I had aimed; had it not been for this fact,
I should not have believed him struck.

Annoyed at the failure of the shot, I tried him with the left-hand
barrel at the same hole. The report of the gun echoed over the lake, but
there he stood as though he bore a charmed life;--an increased flow
of blood from the wound and additional lustre in his eye were the only
signs of his being struck.

I was unloaded, and had not a single ball remaining. It was now his
turn. I dared not turn to retreat, as I knew he would immediately
charge, and we stared each other out of countenance.

With a short grunt he suddenly sprang forward, but fortunately, as I did
not move, he halted; he had, however, decreased his distance, and we now
gazed at each other within ten paces. I began to think buffalo-shooting
somewhat dangerous, and I would have given something to have been a mile
away, but ten times as much to have had my four-ounce rifle in my hand.
Oh, how I longed for that rifle in this moment of suspense! Unloaded,
without the power of defence, with the absolute certainty of a charge
from an overpowering brute, my hand instinctively found the handle of my
hunting-knife, a useless weapon against such a foe.

Knowing that B. was not aware of my situation at the distance which
separated us (about a mile), without taking my eyes from the figure
before me, I raised my hand to my mouth and gave a long and loud
whistle; this was a signal that I knew would be soon answered if heard.

With a stealthy step and another short grunt, the bull again advanced a
couple of paces towards me. He seemed aware of my helplessness, and
he was the picture of rage and fury, pawing the water and stamping
violently with his forefeet.

This was very pleasant! I gave myself up for lost, but putting as fierce
an expression into my features as I could possibly assume, I stared
hopelessly at my maddened antagonist.

Suddenly a bright thought flashed through my mind. Without taking my
eyes off the animal before me, I put a double charge of powder down the
right-hand barrel, and tearing off a piece of my shirt, I took all the
money from my pouch, three shillings in sixpenny pieces, and two anna
pieces, which I luckily had with me in this small coin for paying
coolies. Quickly making them into a rouleau with the piece of rag, I
rammed them down the barrel, and they were hardly well home before the
bull again sprang forward. So quick was it that I had no time to replace
the ramrod, and I threw it in the water, bringing my gun on full cock in
the same instant. However, he again halted, being now within about
seven paces from me, and we again gazed fixedly at each other, but with
altered feelings on my part. I had faced him hopelessly with an empty
gun for more than a quarter of an hour, which seemed a century. I now
had a charge in my gun, which I knew if reserved till he was within a
foot of the muzzle would certainly floor him, and I awaited his onset
with comparative carelessness, still keeping my eyes opposed to his
gaze.

At this time I heard a splashing in the water behind me, accompanied by
the hard breathing of something evidently distressed. The next moment I
heard B.'s voice. He could hardly speak for want of breath, having run
the whole way to my rescue, but I could understand that he had only one
barrel loaded, and no bullets left. I dared not turn my face from the
buffalo, but I cautioned B. to reserve his fire till the bull should be
close into me, and then to aim at the head.

The words were hardly uttered, when, with the concentrated rage of the
last twenty minutes, he rushed straight at me! It was the work of an
instant. B. fired without effect. The horns were lowered, their points
were on either side of me, and the muzzle of the gun barely touched his
forehead when I pulled the trigger, and three shillings' worth of small
change rattled into his hard head. Down he went, and rolled over with
the suddenly checked momentum of his charge. Away went B. and I as
fast as our heels would carry us, through the water and over the plain,
knowing that he was not dead but only stunned. There was a large fallen
tree about half a mile from us, whose whitened branches, rising high
above the ground, offered a tempting asylum. To this we directed our
flying steps, and, after a run of a hundred yards, we turned and looked
behind us. He had regained his feet and was following us slowly. We now
experienced the difference of feeling between hunting and being hunted,
and fine sport we must have afforded him.

On he came, but fortunately so stunned by the collision with her
Majesty's features upon the coin which he had dared to oppose that he
could only reel forward at a slow canter. By degrees even this pace
slackened, and he fell. We were only too glad to be able to reduce our
speed likewise, but we had no sooner stopped to breathe, than he was
again up and after us. At length, however, we gained the tree, and we
beheld him with satisfaction stretched powerless upon the ground, but
not dead, within two hundred yards of us.

We retreated under cover of the forest to the spot at which we had left
the horses, fortunately meeting no opposition from wild animals, and we
shortly arrived at the village at which we took up our quarters, vowing
vengeance on the following morning for the defeat that we had sustained.

A man is a poor defenceless wretch if left to defend himself against
wild animals with the simple natural weapons of arms, legs, and teeth. A
tom-cat would almost be a match for him. He has legs which will neither
serve him for pursuit or escape if he is forced to trust only in his
speed. He has strength of limb which is useless without some artificial
weapon. He is an animal who, without the power of reason, could not even
exist in a wild state; his brain alone gives him the strength to support
his title of lord of the creation.

Nevertheless, a lord of the creation does not appear in much majesty
when running for his life from an infuriated buffalo;--the assumed title
sits uneasily upon him when, with scarcely a breath left in his body, he
struggles along till he is ready to drop with fatigue, expecting to be
overtaken at every step. We must certainly have exhibited poor specimens
of the boasted sway of man over the brute creation could a stranger have
witnessed our flight on this occasion.

The next morning we were up at daybreak, and we returned to the
battlefield of the previous evening in the full expectation of seeing
our wounded antagonist lying dead where we had left him. In this we were
disappointed--he was gone, and we never saw him again.

I now had my long two-ounce and my four-ounce rifles with me, and I was
fully prepared for a deep revenge for the disgrace of yesterday.

The morning was clear but cloudy; a heavy thunderstorm during the night
had cooled the air, and the whole plain was glistening with bright
drops; the peacocks were shrieking from the tree-tops and spreading
their gaudy plumage to the cool breeze; and the whole face of nature
seemed refreshed. We felt the same invigorating spirit, and we took
a long survey of the many herds of buffaloes upon the plain before we
could determine which we should first attack.

A large single bull, who had been lying in a swampy hollow unobserved
by us, suddenly sprang up at about three hundred yards' distance, and
slowly cantered off. I tried the long two-ounce rifle at him, but,
taking too great an elevation, I fired over him. The report, however,
had the effect of turning him, and, instead of retreating, he wheeled
round and attempted to pass between the guns and the banks of the lake.
We were about three hundred yards from the water's edge, and he was soon
passing us at full gallop at right angles, about midway or a hundred and
fifty yards distant.

I had twelve drachms of powder in the four-ounce rifle, and I took a
flying shot at his shoulder. No visible effect was produced, and the
ball ricochetted completely across the broad surface of the lake (which
was no more than a mile wide at this part) in continuous splashes. The
gun-bearers said I had fired behind him, but I had distinctly heard the
peculiar 'fut' which a ball makes upon striking an animal, and
although the passage of the ball across the lake appeared remarkable,
nevertheless I felt positive that it had first passed through some
portion of the animal.

Away the bull sped over the plain at unabated speed for about two
hundred paces, when he suddenly turned and charged toward the guns. On
he came for about a hundred yards, but evidently slackening his speed at
every stride. At length he stopped altogether. His mouth was wide open,
and I could now distinguish a mass of bloody foam upon his lips and
nostrils--the ball had in reality passed through his lungs, and, making
its exit from the opposite shoulder, it had even then flown across the
lake. This was the proof of the effect of the twelve drachms of powder.

Having reloaded, I now advanced towards him, and soon arrived within
fifty paces. He was the facsimile of the bull that had chased us on the
previous day--the same picture of fury and determination; and, crouching
low, he advanced a few paces, keeping his eyes fixed upon us as though
we were already his own.

A short cough, accompanied by a rush of blood from his mouth, seemed to
cause him great uneasiness, and he halted.

Again we advanced till within twenty paces of him. I would not fire, as
I saw that he already had enough, and I wished to see how long he could
support a wound through the lungs, as my safety in buffalo-shooting
might in future depend upon this knowledge.

The fury of his spirit seemed to war with death, and, although reeling
with weakness and suffocation, he again attempted to come on. It was
his last effort; his eyes rolled convulsively, he gave a short grunt of
impotent rage, and the next moment he fell upon his back with his heels
in the air; he was stone dead, and game to the last moment.

I had thus commenced a revenge for the insult of yesterday; I had proved
the wonderful power of the four-ounce rifle--a weapon destined to make
great havoc amongst the heavy game of Ceylon.

Upon turning from the carcass before us, we observed to our surprise
that a large herd of buffaloes, that were at a great distance when we
had commenced the attack upon the bull, had now approached to within
a few hundred yards, and were standing in a dense mass, attentively
watching us. Without any delay we advanced towards them, and, upon
arriving within about a hundred paces, we observed that the herd was
headed by two large bulls, one of which was the largest that I had
ever seen. The whole herd was bellowing and pawing the ground. They had
winded the blood of the dead bull and appeared perfectly maddened.

We continued to advance, and we were within about ninety paces of them
when suddenly the whole herd of about two hundred buffaloes, headed by
the two bulls before noticed, dashed straight towards us at full gallop.
So simultaneous was the onset that it resembled a sudden charge of
cavalry, and the ground vibrated beneath their heavy hoofs. Their tails
were thrown high above their backs, and the mad and overpowering phalanx
of heads and horns came rushing forward as though to sweep us at once
from the face of the earth.

There was not an instant to be lost; already but a short space
intervened between us and apparently certain destruction. Our
gun-bearers were almost in the act of flight; but catching hold of the
man who carried the long two-ounce rifle, and keeping him by my side, I
awaited the irresistible onset with the four-ounce.

The largest of the bulls was some yards in advance, closely followed by
his companion, and the herd in a compact mass came thundering down at
their heels. Only fifty yards separated us; we literally felt among
them, and already experienced a sense of being over-run. I did not look
at the herd, but I kept my eye upon the big bull leader. On they flew,
and were within thirty paces of us, when I took a steady shot with the
four-ounce, and the leading bull plunged head-foremost in the turf,
turning a complete summersault. Snatching the two-ounce from the
petrified gun-bearer, I had just time for a shot as the second bull was
within fifteen paces, and at the flash of the rifle his horns ploughed
up the turf, and he lay almost at our feet. That lucky shot turned
the whole herd. When certain destruction threatened us, they suddenly
wheeled to their left when within twenty paces of the guns, and left us
astonished victors of the field. We poured an ineffectual volley into
the retreating herd from the light guns as they galloped off in full
retreat, and reloaded as quickly as possible, as the two bulls, although
floored, were still alive. They were, however, completely powerless, and
a double-barrelled gun gave each the "coup-de-grace" by a ball in the
forehead. Both rifle shots had struck at the point of junction of
the throat and chest, and the four-ounce ball had passed out of the
hind-quarter. Our friend of yesterday, although hit in precisely the
same spot, had laughed at the light guns.

Although I have since killed about two hundred wild buffaloes I have
never witnessed another charge by a herd. This was an extraordinary
occurrence, and fortunately stands alone in buffalo-shooting. Were it
not for the two heavy rifles our career might have terminated in an
unpleasant manner. As I before mentioned, this part of the country
was seldom or never disturbed at the time of which I write, and the
buffaloes were immensely numerous and particularly savage, nearly always
turning to bay and showing good sport when attacked.

Having cut out the tongues from the two bulls, we turned homeward to
breakfast. Skirting along the edge of the lake, which abounded with
small creeks, occasioning us many circuits, we came suddenly upon a
single bull, who, springing from his lair of mud and high grass, plunged
into a creek, and, swimming across, exposed himself to a dead shot as
he landed on the opposite bank about a hundred paces from us. The
four-ounce struck him in the hind-quarters and broke the hip joint, and,
continuing its course along his body, it pierced his lungs and lodged
in the skin of the throat. The bull immediately fell, but regaining
his feet he took to the water, and swam to a small island of high grass
about thirty yards from the shore. Upon gaining this he turned and faced
us, but in a few seconds he fell unable to rise, and received a merciful
shot in the head, which despatched him.

We were just leaving the border of the lake on our way to the village,
when two cow buffaloes sprang up from one of the numerous inlets and
retreated at full gallop towards the jungle, offering a splendid side
shot at about a hundred paces. The leading cow plunged head-foremost
into the grass as the four-ounce struck her through both shoulders. She
was a fine young cow, and we cut some steaks from her in case we should
find a scarcity of provisions at Minneria and, quitting the shores of
the lake, we started for breakfast.

It was only 8 A.M. when we arrived. I had bagged five buffaloes, four of
which were fine bulls. Our revenge was complete, and I had proved that
the four-ounce was perfectly irresistible if held straight with the
heavy charge of twelve drachms of powder. Since that time I have
frequently used sixteen drachms (one ounce) of powder to the charge, but
the recoil is then very severe, although the effect upon an animal with
a four-ounce steel-tipped conical ball is tremendous.

On our return to the village of Minneria we found a famous breakfast,
for which a bath in the neighbouring brook increased an appetite already
sharpened by the morning exercise. The buffalo steaks were coarse and
bad, as tough as leather, and certainly should never be eaten if better
food can be obtained. The tongues are very rich, but require salting.

In those days Minneria was not spoiled by visitors, and supplies were
accordingly at a cheap rate--large fowls at one penny each, milk at any
price that you chose to give for it. This is now much changed, and the
only thing that is still ridiculously cheap is fish.

Give a man sixpence to catch you as many as he can in the morning, and
he forthwith starts on his piscatorial errand with a large basket, cone
shaped, of two feet diameter at the bottom and about eight inches at the
top. This basket is open at both ends, and is about two feet in length.

The fish that is most sought after is the 'lola.' He is a ravenous
fellow, in appearance between a trout and a carp, having the habits of
the former, but the clumsy shoulders of the latter. He averages about
three pounds, although he is often caught of nine or ten pounds weight.
Delighting in the shallows, he lies among the weeds at the bottom,
to which he always retreats when disturbed. Aware of his habits, the
fisherman walks knee-deep in the water, and at every step he plunges the
broad end of the basket quickly to the bottom. He immediately feels the
fish strike against the sides, and putting his hand down through the
aperture in the top of the basket he captures him, and deposits him in a
basket slung on his back.

These 'lola' are delicious eating, being very like an eel in flavour,
and I have known one man catch forty in a morning with no other
apparatus than this basket.

Minneria Lake, like all others in Ceylon, swarms with crocodiles of a
very large size. Early in the morning and late in the evening they
may be seen lying upon the banks like logs of trees. I have frequently
remarked that a buffalo, shot within a few yards of the lake, has
invariably disappeared during the night, leaving an undoubted track
where he has been dragged to the water by the crocodiles. These brutes
frequently attack the natives when fishing or bathing, but I have never
heard of their pursuing any person upon dry land.

I remember an accident having occurred at Madampi, on the west coast
of Ceylon, about seven years ago, the day before I passed through
the village. A number of women were employed in cutting rushes for
mat-making, and were about mid-deep in the water. The horny tail of a
large crocodile was suddenly seen above the water among the group of
women, and in another instant one of them was seized by the thigh and
dragged towards the deeper part of the stream. In vain the terrified
creature shrieked for assistance; the horror-stricken group had rushed
to the shore, and a crowd of spectators on the bank offered no aid
beyond their cries. It was some distance before the water deepened, and
the unfortunate woman was dragged for many yards, sometimes beneath the
water, sometimes above the surface, rending the air with her screams,
until at length the deep water hid her from their view. She was never
again seen.

Some of these reptiles grow to a very large size, attaining the length
of twenty feet, and eight feet in girth, but the common size is fourteen
feet. They move slowly upon land, but are wonderfully fast and active
in the water. They usually lie in wait for their prey under some hollow
bank in a deep pool, and when the unsuspecting deer or even buffalo
stoops his head to drink, he is suddenly seized by the nose and dragged
beneath the water. Here he is speedily drowned and consumed at leisure.

The two lower and front teeth of a crocodile project through the upper
jaw, and their white points attract immediate notice as they protrude
through the brown scales on the upper lip. When the mouth is closed, the
jaws are thus absolutely locked together.

It is a common opinion that the scales on the back of a crocodile will
turn a ball; this is a vulgar error. The scales are very tough and hard,
but a ball from a common fowling-piece will pass right through the
body. I have even seen a hunting-knife driven at one blow deep into
the hardest part of the back; and this was a crocodile of a large
size, about fourteen feet long, that I shot at a place called Bolgodde,
twenty-two miles from Colombo.

A man had been setting nets for fish, and was in the act of swimming
to the shore, when he was seized and drowned by a crocodile. The next
morning two buffaloes were dragged into the water close to the spot, and
it was supposed that these murders were committed by the same crocodile.
I was at Colombo at the time, and, hearing of the accident, I rode off
to Bolgodde to try my hand at catching him.

Bolgodde is a very large lake of many miles in circumference, abounding
with crocodiles, widgeon, teal, and ducks.

On arrival that evening, the moodeliar (headman) pointed out the spot
where the man had been destroyed, and where the buffaloes had been
dragged in by the crocodile. One buffalo had been entirely devoured, but
the other had merely lost his head, and his carcass was floating in a
horrible state of decomposition near the bank. It was nearly dark, so I
engaged a small canoe to be in readiness by break of day.

Just as the light streaked the horizon I stepped into the canoe.
This required some caution, as it was the smallest thing that can be
conceived to support two persons. It consisted of the hollow trunk of
a tree, six feet in length and about one foot in diameter. A small
outrigger prevented it from upsetting, but it was not an inch from the
surface of the water when I took my narrow seat, and the native in the
stern paddled carefully towards the carcass of the buffalo.

Upon approaching within a hundred yards of the floating carcass, I
counted five forms within a few yards of the flesh. These objects were
not above nine inches square, and appeared like detached pieces of
rough bark. I knew them to be the foreheads of different crocodiles, and
presently one moved towards the half-consumed buffalo. His long head and
shoulders projected from the water as he attempted to fix his fore-claws
into the putrid flesh; this, however, rolled over towards him, and
prevented him from getting a hold; but the gaping jaws nevertheless made
a wide breach in the buffalo's flank. I was now within thirty yards of
them, and, being observed, they all dived immediately to the bottom.

The carcass was lying within a few yards of the bank, where the water
was extremely deep and clear. Several large trees grew close to the edge
and formed a good hiding-place; I therefore landed, and, sending the
canoe to a distance, I watched the water.

I had not been five minutes in this position before I saw in the water
at my feet, in a deep hole close to the bank, the immense form of a
crocodile as he was slowly rising from his hiding-place to the surface.
He appeared to be about eighteen feet long, and he projected his horny
head from the surface, bubbled, and then floated with only his forehead
and large eyes above the water. He was a horrible-looking monster, and
from his size I hoped he was the villain that had committed the late
depredations. He was within three yards of me; and, although I stood
upon the bank, his great round eyes gazed at me without a symptom of
fear. The next moment I put a two-ounce ball exactly between them, and
killed him stone dead. He gave a convulsive slap with his tail, which
made the water foam, and, turning upon his back, he gradually sank,
till at length I could only distinguish the long line of his white belly
twenty feet below me.

Not having any apparatus for bringing him to the surface, I again took
to the canoe, as a light breeze that had sprung up was gradually moving
the carcass of the buffalo away. This I slowly followed, until it at
length rested in a wide belt of rushes which grew upon the shallows near
the shore. I pushed the canoe into the rushes within four yards of the
carcass, keeping to windward to avoid the sickening smell.

I had not been long in this position before the body suddenly rolled
over as though attacked by something underneath the water, and the next
moment the tall reeds brushed against the sides of the canoe, being
violently agitated in a long line, evidently by a crocodile at the
bottom.

The native in the stern grew as pale as a black can turn with fright,
and instantly began to paddle the canoe away. This, however, I soon
replaced in its former position, and then took his paddle away to
prevent further accidents. There sat the captain of the fragile vessel
in the most abject state of terror. We were close to the shore, and the
water was not more than three feet deep, and yet he dared not jump out
of the canoe, as the rushes were again brushing against its sides, being
moved by the hidden beast at the bottom. There was no help for him,
so, after vainly imploring me to shove the canoe into deep water, he at
length sat still.

In a few minutes the body of the buffalo again moved, and the head and
shoulders of a crocodile appeared above water and took a bite of some
pounds of flesh. I could not get a shot at the head from his peculiar
position, but I put a ball through his shoulders, and immediately shoved
the canoe astern. Had I not done this, we should most likely have been
upset, as the wounded brute began to lash out with his tail in all
directions, till he at length retired to the bottom among the rushes.
Here I could easily track him, as he slowly moved along, by the movement
of the reeds. Giving the native the paddle, I now by threats induced him
to keep the canoe over the very spot where the rushes were moving, and
we slowly followed on the track, while I kept watch in the bow of the
canoe with a rifle.

Suddenly the movement in the rushes ceased, and the canoe stopped
accordingly. I leaned slightly over the side to look into the water,
when up came a large air-bubble, and directly afterwards an apparition
in the shape of some fifteen pounds of putrid flesh. The stench was
frightful, but I knew my friend must be very bad down below to disgorge
so sweet a morsel. I therefore took the paddle and poked for him; the
water being shallow, I felt him immediately. Again the rushes moved; I
felt the paddle twist as his scaly back glided under it, and a pair of
gaping jaws appeared above the water, wide open and within two feet of
the canoe. The next moment his head appeared, and the two-ounce ball
shattered his brain. He sank to the bottom, the rushes moved slightly
and were then still.

I now put the canoe ashore, and cutting a strong stick, with a crook at
one end, I again put out to the spot and dragged for him. He was quite
dead; and catching him under the fore-leg, I soon brought him gently to
the surface of the water. I now made fast a line to his fore-leg, and we
towed him slowly to the village, the canoe being level with the water's
edge.

His weight in the water was a mere trifle, but on arrival at the village
on the banks of the lake, the villagers turned out with great glee,
and fastened ropes to different parts of his body to drag him out. This
operation employed about twenty men. The beast was about fourteen feet
long; and he was no sooner on shore than the natives cut him to pieces
with axes, and threw the sections into the lake to be devoured by his
own species. This was a savage kind of revenge, which appeared to afford
them great satisfaction.

Taking a large canoe, I paddled along the shores of the lake with
a shot-gun, and made a good bag of ducks and teal, and returned to
breakfast. The fatness and flavour of the wild ducks in Ceylon are quite
equal to the best in England.




CHAPTER IV.

Equipment for a Hunting Trip--In Chase of a Herd of Buffaloes--Hard
Work--Close Quarters--Six Feet from the Muzzle--A Black with a Devil.

There is one thing necessary to the enjoyment of sport in Ceylon, and
without which no amount of game can afford thorough pleasure; this is
personal comfort. Unlike a temperate climate, where mere attendance
becomes a luxury, the pursuit of game in a tropical country is attended
with immense fatigue and exhaustion. The intense heat of the sun, the
dense and suffocating exhalations from swampy districts, the constant
and irritating attacks from insects, all form drawbacks to sport that
can only be lessened by excellent servants and by the most perfect
arrangements for shelter and supplies. I have tried all methods of
travelling, and I generally manage to combine good sport with every
comfort and convenience.

A good tent, perfectly waterproof, and of so light a construction as to
travel with only two bearers, is absolutely indispensable. My tent is on
the principle of an umbrella, fifteen feet in diameter, and will house
three persons comfortably. A circular table fits in two halves round
the tent-pole; three folding chairs have ample space; three beds can be
arranged round the tent walls; the boxes of clothes, etc., stow under
the beds; and a dressing-table and gun-rack complete the furniture.

Next in importance to the tent is a good canteen. Mine is made of
japanned block tin, and contains in close-fitting compartments an entire
dinner and breakfast service for three persons, including everything
that can be required in an ordinary establishment. This is slung upon a
bamboo, carried by two coolies.

Clothes must always be packed in tin boxes, or the whole case will most
likely be devoured by white ants.

Cooking utensils must be carried in abundance, together with a lantern,
axe, bill-hook, tinder-box, matches, candles, oil, tea, coffee, sugar,
biscuits, wine, brandy, sauces, etc., a few hams, some tins of preserved
meats and soups, and a few bottles of curacea, a glass of which, in
the early dawn, after a cup of hot coffee and a biscuit, is a fine
preparation for a day's work.

I once tried the rough system of travelling, and started off with
nothing but my guns, clothes, a box of biscuits, and a few bottles
of brandy--no bed, no pillow, no tent nor chairs or table, but, as my
distressed servant said, 'no nothing.' This was many years ago, when
the excitement of wild sports was sufficient to laugh at discomfort.
I literally depended upon my gun for food, and my cooking utensils
consisted of one saucepan and a gridiron, a 'stew' and a 'fry' being all
that I looked forward to in the way of gourmandism. Sleeping on the bare
ground in native huts, dining cross-legged upon mother earth, with a
large leaf as a substitute for a plate, a cocoa-nut shell for a glass,
my hunting-knife comprising all my cutlery, I thus passed through a
large district of wild country, accompanied by B., and I never had more
exciting sport.

It was on this occasion that I had a memorable hunt in the neighbourhood
of Narlande, within thirty miles of Kandy. It was our first day's
stage, and, upon our arrival, at about 2 P.M., we left our guns at the
post-holder's hut, while we proceeded to the river to bathe.

We were hardly dressed before a native came running to tell us that
several elephants were devouring his crop of korrakan--a grain something
like clover-seed, upon which the people in this part almost entirely
subsist.

Without a moment's delay we sent for the guns. The post-holder was a
good tracker, and a few minutes of sharp walking through a path bordered
on either side by dense thorny bush brought us to a chena jungle ground,
or cultivated field. The different watch-houses erected in the large
trees were full of people, who were shrieking and yelling at the top of
their voices, having just succeeded in scaring the elephants into the
jungle.

The whole of the country in this neighbourhood has, in successive ages,
been cleared and cultivated: the forest has been felled. The poverty
of the soil yields only one crop, and the lately cleared field is again
restored to nature. Dense thorny jungle immediately springs up, which a
man cannot penetrate without being torn to pieces by the briars. This is
called chena jungle, and is always the favourite resort of elephants and
all wild animals, the impervious character of the bush forming a secure
retreat.

From these haunts the elephants commit nocturnal descents upon the crops
of the natives. The korrakan is a sweet grass, growing about two feet
high, and so partial are the elephants to this food that they will
invade the isolated field even during the daytime. Driven out by shouts
and by shots fired by the natives from their secure watch-houses, they
will retreat to their cover, but in a few minutes they reappear from
another part of the jungle and again commence their depredations.

The havoc committed by a large herd of elephants can well be imagined.

In this instance there were only three elephants--a large bull, with a
mother and her young one, or what we call a 'poonchy.' On entering the
korrakan field we distinctly heard them breaking the boughs at no great
distance. We waited for some time to see if they would return to the
field; but they apparently were aware of some impending danger, as they
did not move from their strong position. This was a cunning family of
elephants, as they had retreated 'down wind,' and the jungle being so
thick that we could with difficulty follow even upon their track, made
it very doubtful whether we should kill them.

We cautiously entered. It was one mass of thorns, and we were shortly
compelled to crawl upon our hands and knees. This was arduous work,
as we had great difficulty in carrying the guns so as to avoid the
slightest noise. I was leading the way, and could distinctly hear the
rustling of the leaves as the elephants moved their ears. We were now
within a few feet of them, but not an inch of their bodies could be
seen, so effectually were they hidden by the thick jungle. Suddenly we
heard the prolonged wh-r-r, wh-r-r-r-r-r, as one of the elephants winded
us: the shrill trumpet sounded in another direction, and the crash
through the jungle took place which nothing but an elephant can produce.
In such dense jungle, where the elephants are invisible, this crash is
most exciting if close at hand, as in the present instance.

It is at the first burst impossible to tell whether the elephant is
coming at you or rushing away. In either case it is extremely dangerous,
as these chena jungles are almost devoid of trees; thus there is no
cover of sufficient strength to protect a man should he attempt to jump
on one side, and he may even be run over by accident.

A few moments assured us of their retreat, and we instantly followed
upon their track, running at full speed along the lane which they had
crushed in their headlong flight. This was no easy matter; the jungle
itself was certainly broken down, but innumerable hooked thorns, hanging
from rope-like creepers, which had been torn down by the rush of the
elephants, caught us upon every side. In a few minutes our clothes were
in rags, and we were bleeding from countless scratches, but we continued
the chase as fast as we could run upon the track. The prickly cactus
which abounds in these jungles, and grows to the height of twenty feet,
in some places checked us for a few moments, being crushed into a heap
by the horny-footed beasts before us. These obstacles overcome, we again
pushed on at a rapid pace, occasionally listening for a sound of the
retreating game.

We now observed that the herd had separated; the bull had gone off in
one direction, and the female with her half-grown poonchy in another.
Following the latter, we again pushed on at a quick run, as the
elephants had evidently gone off at a great pace and were far in
advance. For about half an hour we had continued the pursuit at the same
speed, when we suddenly heard the warning wh-r-r-r-r as the elephants
winded us at a distance of 200 yards, and the crash instantly following
this sound told us too plainly that the game was fearfully on the alert,
and gave us little hopes of overtaking them, as they were travelling
directly down wind.

Speed was our only chance, and again we rushed forward in hot pursuit
through the tangled briars, which yielded to our weight, although we
were almost stripped of clothes. Another half hour passed, and we
had heard no further signs of the game. We stopped to breathe, and we
listened attentively for the slightest sound. A sudden crash in the
jungle at a great distance assured us that we were once more discovered.
The chase seemed hopeless; the heat was most oppressive; and we had been
running for the last hour at a killing pace through a most distressing
country. Once more, however, we started off, determined to keep up the
pursuit as long as daylight would permit. It was now 5 P.M., and we
had one hour left before darkness would set in. The wind had entirely
ceased, leaving a perfect calm; the air was thick and heavy, and the
heat was thus rendered doubly fatiguing. We noticed, however, that the
track of the elephants had doubled back instead of continuing in the
direct line that we had followed so long. This gave us hope, as the
elephants no longer had the advantage of the wind, and we pushed on as
fast as we could go.

It was about half an hour before dusk, and our patience and hopes were
alike exhausted, when we suddenly once more heard the wh-r-r-r of the
elephants winding us within a hundred yards. It was our last chance, and
with redoubled speed we rushed after them.

Suddenly we broke from the high jungle in which we had been for the last
two hours, and found ourselves in a chena jungle of two years' growth,
about five feet high, but so thick and thorny that it resembled one vast
blackthorn hedge, through which no man could move except in the track of
the retreating elephants.

To my delight, on entering this low jungle, I saw the female at about
forty yards' distance, making off at a great pace. I had a light
double-barrelled gun in my hand, and, in the hopes of checking her pace,
I fired a flying shot at her ear. She had been hunted so long that she
was well inclined to fight, and she immediately slackened her speed so
much that in a few instants I was at her tail, so close that I could
have slapped her. Still she ploughed her way through the thick thorns,
and not being able to pass her owing to the barrier of jungle, I could
only follow close at her heels and take my chance of a shot. At length,
losing all patience, I fired my remaining barrel under her tail, giving
it an upward direction in the hope of disabling her spine.

A cloud of smoke hung over me for a second, and, throwing my empty
gun on one side, I put my hand behind me for a spare rifle. I felt the
welcome barrel pushed into my hand at the same moment that I saw the
infuriated head of the elephant with ears cocked charging through
the smoke! It was the work of an instant. I had just time to cock the
two-ounce rifle and take a steady aim. The next moment we were in a
cloud of smoke, but as I fired, I felt certain of her. The smoke cleared
from the thick bushes, and she lay dead at SIX FEET from the spot where
I stood. The ball was in the centre of her forehead, and B., who had
fired over my shoulder so instantaneously with me that I was not aware
of it, had placed his ball within three inches of mine. Had she been
missed, I should have fired my last shot.

This had been a glorious hunt; many miles had been gone over, but by
great luck, when the wind dropped and the elephant altered her course,
she had been making a circuit for the very field of korrakan at which
we had first found her. We were thus not more than three miles from our
resting-place, and the trackers who know every inch of the country, soon
brought us to the main road.

The poonchy and the bull elephant, having both separated from the
female, escaped.

One great cause of danger in shooting in thick jungles is the obscurity
occasioned by the smoke of the first barrel; this cannot escape from the
surrounding bushes for some time, and effectually prevents a certain aim
with the remaining barrel. In wet weather this is much increased.

For my own part I dislike shooting in thick jungles, and I very seldom
do so. It is extremely dangerous, and is like shooting in the dark; you
never see the game until you can almost touch it, and the labour
and pain of following up elephants through thorny jungle is beyond
description.

On our return to the post-holder's hut we dined and prepared for sleep.
It was a calm night, and not a sound disturbed the stillness of the air.
The tired coolies and servants were fast asleep, the lamp burnt dimly,
being scantily fed with oil, and we were in the act of lying down to
rest when a frightful scream made us spring to our feet. There was
something so unearthly in the yell that we could hardly believe it
human. The next moment a figure bounded into the little room that we
occupied. It was a black, stark naked. His tongue, half bitten through,
protruded from his mouth; his bloodshot eyes, with a ghastly stare, were
straining from their sockets, and he stood gazing at us with his arms
extended wide apart. Another horrible scream burst from him, and he fell
flat upon his back.

The post-holder and a whole crowd of awakened coolies now assembled, and
they all at once declared that the man had a devil. The fact is, he had
a fit of epilepsy, and his convulsions were terrible. Without moving
a limb he flapped here and there like a salmon when just landed. I had
nothing with me that would relieve him, and I therefore left him to
the hands of the post-holder, who prided himself upon his skill in
exorcising devils. All his incantations produced no effect, and the
unfortunate patient suddenly sprang to his feet and rushed madly into
the thorny jungle. In this we heard him crashing through like a wild
beast, and I do not know to this day whether he was ever heard of
afterwards.

The Cingalese have a thorough belief in the presence of devils; one sect
are actually 'devil-WORSHIPPERS,' but the greater portion of the
natives are Bhuddists. Among this nation the missionaries make very slow
progress. There is no character to work upon in the Cingalese: they are
faithless, cunning, treacherous, and abject cowards; superstitious in
the extreme, and yet unbelieving in any one God. A converted Bhuddist
will address his prayers to our God if he thinks he can obtain any
temporal benefit by so doing, but, if not, he would be just as likely to
pray to Bhudda or to the devil.

I once saw a sample of heathen conversion in Ceylon that was enough to
dishearten a missionary.

A Roman Catholic chapel had been erected in a wild part of the country
by some zealous missionary, who prided himself upon the number of his
converts. He left his chapel during a few weeks' absence in some other
district, during which time his converts paid their devotion to the
Christian altar. They had made a few little additions to the ornaments
of the altar, which must have astonished the priest on his return.

There was an image of our Saviour and the **Virgin:** that was all
according to custom. But there were also 'three images of Bhudda,' a
coloured plaster-of-Paris image of the Queen and Prince Albert upon the
altar, and a very questionable penny print in vivid colours hanging over
the altar, entitled the 'Stolen Kiss.' So much for the conversion of the
heathen in Ceylon. The attempt should only be made in the schools, where
the children may be brought up as Christians, but the idea of converting
the grown-up heathen is a fallacy.




CHAPTER V.

The Four-ounce again--Tidings of a Rogue--Approaching a Tank Rogue--An
Exciting Moment--Ruins of Pollanarua--Ancient Ruins--Rogues at
Doolana--B. Charged by a Rogue--Planning an Attack--A Check--Narrow
Escape--Rogue-stalking--A Bad Rogue--Dangers of Elephant-shooting--The
Rhatamahatmeya's Tale.

A broken nipple in my long two-ounce rifle took me to Trincomalee, about
seventy miles out of my proposed route. Here I had it punched out and
replaced with a new one, which I fortunately had with me. No one who
has not experienced the loss can imagine the disgust occasioned by an
accident to a favourite rifle in a wild country. A spare nipple and
mainspring for each barrel and lock should always be taken on a shooting
trip.

In passing by Kandelly, on my return from Trincomalee, I paid a second
visit to the lake. This is very similar to that of Minneria; but the
shooting at that time was destroyed from the same cause which has since
ruined Minneria--'too many guns.' The buffaloes were not worthy of the
name; I could not make one show fight, nor could I even get within three
hundred yards of them. I returned from the plain with disgust; but just
as I was quitting the shores of the lake I noticed three buffaloes in
the shallows about knee-deep in the water, nearly half a mile from me.
They did not look bigger than dogs, the distance was so great.

There is nothing like a sheet of water for trying a rifle; the splash of
the ball shows with such distinctness the accuracy or the defect in the
shooting. It was necessary that I should fire my guns off in order to
clean them that evening: I therefore tried their power at this immense
distance.

The long two-ounce fell short, but in a good line. I took a rest upon
a man's shoulder with the four-ounce rifle, and, putting up the last
sight, I aimed at the leading buffalo, who was walking through the water
parallel with us. I aimed at the outline of the throat, to allow for his
pace at this great distance. The recoil of the rifle cut the man's ear
open, as there were sixteen drachms of powder in this charge.

We watched the smooth surface of the water as the invisible messenger
whistled over the lake. Certainly three seconds elapsed before we saw
the slightest effect. At the expiration of that time the buffalo fell
suddenly in a sitting position, and there he remained fixed, many
seconds after, a dull sound returned to our ears; it was the 'fut' of
the ball, which had positively struck him at this immense range. What
the distance was I cannot say; it may have been 600 yards, or 800,
or more. It was shallow water the whole way: we therefore mounted our
horses and rode up to him. Upon reaching him, I gave him a settling ball
in the head, and we examined him. The heavy ball had passed completely
through his hips, crushing both joints, and, of course, rendering him
powerless at once.

The shore appeared full half a mile from us on our return, and I could
hardly credit my own eyes, the distance was so immense, and yet the ball
had passed clean through the animal's body.

It was of course a chance shot, and, even with this acknowledgment,
it must appear rather like the 'marvellous' to a stranger;--this is my
misfortune, not my fault. I certainly never made such a shot before or
since; it was a sheer lucky hit, say at 600 yards; and the wonderful
power of the rifle was thus displayed in the ball perforating the large
body of the buffalo at this range. This shot was made with a round
ball, not a cone. The round belted ball for this heavy two-grooved rifle
weighs three ounces. The conical ball weighs a little more than four
ounces.

While describing the long shots performed by this particular rifle, I
cannot help recounting a curious chance with a large rogue elephant
in Topari tank. This tank or lake is, like most others in Ceylon, the
result of vast labour in past ages. Valleys were closed in by immense
dams of solid masonry, which, checking the course of the rivers, formed
lakes of many miles in extent. These were used as reservoirs for the
water required for the irrigation of rice lands. The population who
effected these extensive works have long since passed away; their fate
is involved in mystery. The records of their ancient cities still exist,
but we have no account of their destruction. The ruins of one of these
cities, Pollanarua, are within half a mile of the village of Topari, and
the waters of the adjacent lake are still confined by a dam of two miles
in length, composed of solid masonry. When the lake is full, it is about
eight miles in circumference.

I had only just arrived at the village, and my horse-keeper had taken
the horse to drink at the lake, when he suddenly came running back to
say that a rogue elephant was bathing himself on the opposite shore, at
about two miles' distance.

I immediately took my guns and went after him. My path lay along the
top of the great dam, which formed a causeway covered with jungle. This
causeway was about sixty feet in breadth and two miles in length; the
lake washed its base about twenty feet below the summit. The opposite
shore was a fine plain, bordered by open forest, and the lake spread
into the grassy surface in wide and irregular bays.

I continued my course along the causeway at a fast walk, and on arriving
at the extremity of the lake, I noticed that the ancient dam continued
for a much greater distance. This, together with the great height of the
masonry from the level of the water, proved that the dimensions of the
tank had formerly been of much greater extent.

Descending by the rugged stones which formed the dam wall I reached the
plain, and, keeping close to the water's edge, I rounded a large neck
of land covered with trees, which projected for some distance into the
lake. I knew, by the position of the elephant, when I first saw him,
that he was not far beyond this promontory, and I carefully advanced
through the open forest, hoping that I might meet him there on his
exit from his bath. In this I was mistaken, for on passing through this
little belt of trees I saw the elephant still in the lake, belly-deep,
about 300 paces from me. He was full 120 yards from the shore, and I was
puzzled how to act. He was an immense brute, being a fine specimen of
a tank 'rogue.' This class are generally the worst description of rogue
elephants, who seldom move far from the lakes, but infest the shores
for many years. Being quite alone, with the exception of two worthless
gun-bearers, the plan of attack required some consideration.

The belt of trees in which I stood was the nearest piece of cover to the
elephant, the main jungle being about a quarter of a mile from the shore
of the lake. In the event of a retreat being necessary, this cover would
therefore be my point. There was a large tamarind-tree growing alone
upon the plain about a hundred and fifty paces from the water's edge,
exactly in a line with the position of the elephant. The mud plastered
to a great height upon the stem showed this to be his favourite
rubbing-post after bathing.

Having determined upon my plan of attack, I took the guns from the
gun-bearers and sent the men up the tree, as I knew they would run away
in the event of danger, and would most probably take the guns with
them in their flight. Having thus secured the arms, I placed the long
two-ounce against a large and conspicuous tree that grew upon the
extreme edge of the forest, and I cautiously advanced over the open
plain with my two remaining guns, one of which I deposited against the
stem of the single tamarind-tree. I had thus two points for a defensive
retreat, should it be necessary.

I had experienced considerable difficulty in attaining my position at
the tamarind-tree without being observed by the elephant; fortunately,
I had both the wind and the sun favourable, the latter shining from my
back full into the lake.

The elephant was standing with his back to the shore exactly in a line
with me, and he was swinging his great head from side to side, and
flapping his ears in the enjoyment of his bath. I left the tree with my
four-ounce rile, and, keeping in a direct line for his hind-quarters,
I walked towards him. The grass was soft and short; I could therefore
approach without the slightest noise: the only danger of being
discovered was in the chance that I might be seen as he swung his head
continually on either side. This I avoided by altering my course as I
saw his head in the act of coming round, and I soon stood on the edge of
the lake exactly behind him, at about 120 yards. He was a noble-looking
fellow, every inch a rogue, his head almost white with numerous
flesh-coloured spots. These give a savage and disgusting appearance
to an elephant, and altogether he looked a formidable opponent. I had
intended to shout on arriving at my present position, and then to
wait for the front shot as he charged; but on looking back to the
tamarind-tree and my proposed course for retreat, the distance appeared
so great, rendered still more difficult by a gradual ascent, that I felt
it would be impossible to escape if my chance lay in running. I hardly
knew what to do; I had evidently caught a 'Tartar.'

His head was perpetually swinging to and fro, and I was of course
accordingly altering my position to avoid his eye. At one of these
half turns he flapped his right ear just as his head came round, and I
observed a perfectly white mark, the size of a saucer, behind the ear,
in the exact spot for a fatal shot. I at once determined to try it, even
at this distance; at all events, if it failed, and he should charge, I
had a fair start, and by getting the spare gun from the tamarind-tree I
could make a defence at the cover.

His attention was completely absorbed in a luxurious repast upon a bed
of the succulent lotus. He tore up bunches of the broad leaves and snaky
stalks, and, washing them carefully with his trunk, he crushed the juicy
stems, stuffing the tangled mass into his mouth as a savage would eat
maccaroni. Round swung his head once more, the ear flapped, the mark was
exposed, but the ear again concealed it just as I had raised the rifle.
This happened several times, but I waited patiently for a good chance,
being prepared for a run the moment after firing.

Once more his head swung towards me: the sun shone full upon him, and I
raised the rifle to be ready for him if he gave me the chance. His ear
flapped forward just as his head was at a proper angle for a shot. The
mark shone brightly along the sights of the rifle as I took a steady
aim; the answer to the report of the gun was--a dull splash!

He had sunk upon his knees stone dead. I could hardly believe my eyes.
The sight of so large an animal being killed at such a distance by one
shot had an extraordinary effect. I heard a heathenish scream of
joy behind me, and upon turning round I perceived the now courageous
gun-bearers running towards me at their best pace. They were two of
the Topari villagers, and had been perfectly aghast at the idea of one
person, with only a single-barrelled rifle, attacking a tank rogue in
the open plain. The sequel had turned their fear into astonishment. They
now had the laugh at me, however, as they swam fearlessly up to the
dead elephant to cut off his tail, which I would not have done for any
reward, for fear of crocodiles, which abound in the tank. The ball had
struck the white mark exactly in the centre, which pleased these natives
exceedingly, and they returned in safety with the tail.

I have frequently tried these long shots since, but I never succeeded
again except once, and that was not satisfactory, as the elephant did
not die upon the spot, but was found by the natives on the following
day.

On my return to the village I took a shot-gun and strolled along the
banks of the lake. The snipe were innumerable, and I killed them till my
head ached with the constant recoil of the gun in addition to the
heat. I also killed several couple of ducks and teal in addition to
twenty-eight couple of snipe. This was the Paradise for sport at the
time of which I write. It had never been disturbed: but it has since
shared the fate of many other places.

The open forest in the vicinity of the lake abounded with deer. Grassy
glades beneath the shady trees give a park-like appearance to the scene,
and afford a delightful resort for the deer.

In strolling through these shady glades you suddenly arrive among the
ruins of ancient Pollanarua. The palaces are crumbled into shapeless
mounds of bricks. Massive pillars, formed of a single stone, twelve feet
high, stand in upright rows throughout the jungle here and there over an
extent of some miles. The buildings which they once supported have long
since fallen, and the pillars now stand like tombstones over vanished
magnificence. Some buildings are still standing; among these are two
dagobas, huge monuments of bricks, formerly covered with white cement,
and elaborately decorated with different devices. These are shaped like
an egg that has been cut nearly in half, and then placed upon its base;
but the cement has perished, and they are mounds of jungle and rank
grass which has overgrown them, although the large dagoba is upwards of
a hundred feet high.

A curious temple, formed on the imperishable principle of excavating
in the solid rock, is in perfect preservation, and is still used by the
natives as a place of worship: this is presided over by a priest. Three
large images of Bhudda, carved out of solid rock, occupy the positions
in which he is always represented; that in the recumbent posture is
fifty-six feet long, cut from one stone.

I was strolling through these ruins when I suddenly saw a spotted doe
feeding among the upright pillars before mentioned. I was within twenty
yards of her before she was aware of my vicinity, and I bagged her by
a shot with a double-barrelled gun. At the report of the gun a herd of
about thirty deer, which were concealed amongst the ruins, rushed close
by me, and I bagged another doe with the remaining barrel.

The whole of this country must at one time have been densely populated;
perhaps this very density may have produced pestilence, which swept away
the inhabitants. The city has been in ruins for about 600 years, and
was founded about 300 years B.C. Some idea of the former extent of the
Ceylon antiquities may be formed from the present size of the ruins.
Those of Anarajapoora are sixteen miles square, comprising a surface
of 256 square miles. Those of Pollanarua are much smaller, but they are
nevertheless of great extent.

The inhabitants of the present village of Topari are a poor squalid
race; and if they are descended in a direct line from the ancient
occupants of the city, they are as much degenerated in character and
habits as the city itself is ruined in architecture. Few countries can
be more thinly populated than Ceylon, and yet we have these numerous
proofs of a powerful nation having once existed. Wherever these lakes or
tanks exist in the present day, a populous country once flourished. In
all countries which are subject to months of drought, a supply of water
is the first consideration, or cultivation must cease. This was the
object in forming the tanks, which are especially numerous throughout
the Tambancadua district. These tank countries afford a great diversity
of sport, as they all abound with wild fowl, and snipe in their season
(from November to May). During the time of drought they are always
the resort of every kind of wild animal, which are forced to the
neighbourhood for a supply of water.

The next tank to Topari is that of Doolana; this is eight miles from the
former, and is about the same extent. In this district there are no less
than eight of these large lakes. Their attractions to rogue elephants
having been explained, it may be readily understood that these gentry
abound throughout the district. I shall, therefore, select a few
incidents that have happened to me in these localities, which will
afford excellent illustrations of the habits of 'rogues.'

Having arrived at Doolana, on the 5th April, 1847, with good Moormen
trackers, who were elephant-catchers by profession, I started for a
day's sport, in company with my brother B. This particular portion of
the district is inhabited entirely by Moormen. They are a fine race of
people, far superior to the Cingalese. They are supposed to be descended
from Arabian origin, and they hold the Mohammedan religion. The
Rhatamahatmeya, or head man of the district, resides at Doolana, and he
had received us in a most hospitable manner. We therefore started direct
from his house.

Passing through a belt of low thick jungle, exactly in front of the
village, we entered upon the plain which formed the border of the tank.
This lake is about three miles in length, but is not more than a mile
in width in its widest part, and in some places is very much less.
The opposite side of the tank is fine open forest, which grows to the
water's edge, and is in some parts flooded during the wet season. At
this time the soil was deep and muddy.

This was not a place visited by sportsmen at that period; and upon
arriving at the margin of the lake, an exciting view presented itself.
Scattered over the extent of the lake were 'thirteen rogue elephants;'
one was not a quarter of a mile from us; another was so far off he could
hardly be distinguished; another was close to the opposite jungle; and
they were, in fact, all single elephants. There was an exception to
this, however, in one pair, who stood in the very centre of the tank,
side by side; they were as black as ebony, and although in view with
many brother rogues, they appeared giants even among giants. The Moormen
immediately informed us that they were a notorious pair, who always
associated together, and were the dread of the neighbourhood. There
were many tales of their ferocity and daring, which at the time we gave
little heed to.

Crossing the tank in a large canoe, we arrived in the open forest upon
the opposite shore. It was a mass of elephant tracks; which sank deep
in the soft earth. They were all so fresh and confused that tracking was
very difficult. However, we at length fixed upon the tracks of a pair of
elephants, and followed them up. This was a work of considerable time,
but the distant cracking of a bough at length attracted us to their
position, and we shortly came up with them, just as they had winded us
and were moving off. I fired an ineffectual shot at the temple of one,
which separated him from the other, after whom we started in chase at
full speed. Full speed soon ended in a stand-still in such ground; it
was deep, stiff clay, in which we sank over our ankles at every step,
and varied our struggles by occasionally flying sprawling over the
slippery roots of the trees.

The elephants ran clean away from us, and the elephant-catchers, who
knew nothing of the rules for carrying spare guns, entering into the
excitement of the chase, and free from the impediments of shoes, ran
lightly along the muddy ground, and were soon out of sight as well as
the elephants. Still we struggled on, when, presently we heard a shout
and then a shot; then another shout; then the trumpet of an elephant.
Shot after shot then followed with a chorus of shouts; they were
actually firing all our spare guns!

In a few moments we were up with them. In a beautifully open piece
of forest, upon good hard ground, these fellows were having a regular
battle with the rogue. He was charging them with the greatest fury, but
he no sooner selected one man for his object than these active fellows
diverted his rage by firing into his hind-quarters and yelling at him.
At this he would immediately turn and charge another man, when he would
again be assailed as before. When we arrived he immediately selected B.,
and came straight at him, but offered a beautiful shot in doing so, and
B. dropped him dead.

The firing had disturbed a herd of elephants from the forest, and they
had swum the large river in the neighbourhood, which was at that time
so swollen that we could not cross it. We, therefore, struck off to the
edge of the forest, where the waters of the lake washed the roots of the
trees, and from this point we had a fine view of the greater portion.

All the rogues that we had at first counted had retired to their
several entrances in the forest, except the pair of desperadoes already
mentioned--they knew no fear, and had not heeded the shots fired. They
were tempting baits, and we determined to get them if possible. These
two elephants were standing belly-deep in the water, about a quarter of
a mile from the shore; and the question was, 'How were we to get near
them?' Having observed that the other rogues had retreated to the forest
at the noise of the firing, it struck me that we might by some ruse
induce these two champions to follow their example, and, by meeting them
on their entrance, we might bring them to action.

Not far upon our left, a long shallow bank, covered with reeds,
stretched into the tank. By wading knee-deep along this shoal, a man
might approach to within 200 paces of the elephants and would be nearly
abreast of them. I, therefore, gave a man a gun, and instructed him
to advance to the extreme end of the shallows, taking care to conceal
himself in the rushes, and when at the nearest point he was to fire at
the elephants. This, I hoped, would drive them to the jungle, where we
should endeavour to meet them.

The Moorman entrusted upon this mission was a plucky fellow, and he
started off, taking a double gun and a few charges of powder and ball.
The elephant-catchers were delighted with the idea, and we patiently
awaited the result. About a quarter of an hour passed away, when we
suddenly saw a puff of white smoke spring from the green rushes at the
point of the sandbank. A few moments after, we heard the report of the
gun, and we saw the ball splash in the water close to the elephants.
They immediately cocked their ears, and, throwing their trunks high in
the air, they endeavoured to wind the enemy; but they did not move, and
they shortly again commenced feeding upon the water-lilies. Another shot
from the same place once more disturbed them, and, while they winded the
unseen enemy, two more shots in quick succession from the old quarter
decided their opinion, and they stalked proudly through the water
towards the shore.

Our satisfaction was great, but the delight of the elephant-catchers
knew no bounds. Away they, started along the shores of the lake, hopping
from root to root, skipping through the mud, which was more than a
foot deep, their light forms hardly sinking in the tough surface. A
nine-stone man certainly has an advantage over one of twelve in this
ground; added to this, I was carrying the long two-ounce rifle of
sixteen pounds, which, with ammunition, &c., made up about thirteen and
a half stone, in deep stiff clay. I was literally half-way up the calf
of my leg in mud at every step, while these light, naked fellows tripped
like snipe over the sodden ground. Vainly I called upon them to go
easily; their moment of excitement was at its full pitch, and they were
soon out of sight among the trees and underwood, taking all the spare
guns, except the four-ounce rifle, which, weighing twenty-one pounds,
effectually prevented the bearer from leaving us behind.

What added materially to the annoyance of losing the spare guns was the
thoughtless character of the advance. I felt sure that these fellows
would outrun the position of the elephants, which, if they had continued
in a direct route, should have entered the jungle within 300 yards of
our first station.

We had slipped, and plunged, and struggled over this distance, when we
suddenly were checked in our advance. We had entered a small plot of
deep mud and rank grass, surrounded upon all sides by dense rattan
jungle. This stuff is one woven mass of hooked thorns: long tendrils,
armed in the same manner, although not thicker than a whip-cord, wind
themselves round the parent canes and form a jungle which even elephants
dislike to enter. To man, these jungles are perfectly impervious.

Half-way to our knees in mud, we stood in this small open space of about
thirty feet by twenty. Around us was an opaque screen of impenetrable
jungle; the lake lay about fifty yards upon our left, behind the thick
rattan. The gun-bearers were gone ahead somewhere, and were far in
advance. We were at a stand-still. Leaning upon my long rifle, I stood
within four feet of the wall of jungle which divided us from the lake.
I said to B., 'The trackers are all wrong, and have gone too far. I
am convinced that the elephants must have entered somewhere near this
place.'

Little did I think that at that very moment they were within a few feet
of us. B. was standing behind me on the opposite side of the small open,
or about seven yards from the jungle.

I suddenly heard a deep guttural sound in the thick rattan within four
feet of me; in the same instant the whole tangled fabric bent forward,
and bursting asunder, showed the furious head of an elephant with
uplifted trunk in full charge upon me!

I had barely time to cock my rifle, and the barrel almost touched him
as I fired. I knew it was in vain, as his trunk was raised. B. fired his
right-hand barrel at the same moment without effect from the same cause.
I jumped on one side and attempted to spring through the deep mud: it
was of no use, the long grass entangled my feet, and in another instant
I lay sprawling in the enraged elephant's path within a foot of him. In
that moment of suspense I expected to hear the crack of my own bones as
his massive foot would be upon me. It was an atom of time. I heard the
crack of a gun; it was B.'s last barrel. I felt a spongy weight strike
my heel, and, turning quickly heels over head, I rolled a few paces and
regained my feet. That last shot had floored him just as he was upon me;
the end of his trunk had fallen upon my heel. Still he was not dead, but
he struck at me with his trunk as I passed round his head to give him
a finisher with the four-ounce rifle, which I had snatched from our
solitary gun-bearer.

My back was touching the jungle from which the rogue had just charged,
and I was almost in the act of firing through the temple of the still
struggling elephant, when I heard a tremendous crash in the jungle
behind me similar to the first, and the savage scream of an elephant.
I saw the ponderous foreleg cleave its way through the jungle directly
upon me. I threw my whole weight back against the thick rattans to avoid
him, and the next moment his foot was planted within an inch of mine.
His lofty head was passing over me in full charge at B., who was
unloaded, when, holding the four-ounce rifle perpendicularly, I fired
exactly under his throat. I thought he would fall and crush me, but this
shot was the only chance, as B. was perfectly helpless.

A dense cloud of smoke from the heavy charge of powder for the moment
obscured everything. I had jumped out of the way the instant after
firing. The elephant did not fall, but he had his death blow the
ball had severed his jugular, and the blood poured from the wound. He
stopped, but collecting his stunned energies he still blundered forward
towards B. He, however, avoided him by running to one side, and the
wounded brute staggered on through the jungle. We now loaded the guns;
the first rogue was quite dead, and we followed in pursuit of rogue
number two. We heard distant shots, and upon arriving at the spot we
found the gun-bearers. They had heard the wounded elephant crushing
through the jungle, and they had given him a volley just as he was
crossing the river over which the herd had escaped in the morning. They
described the elephant as perfectly helpless from his wound, and they
imagined that he had fallen in the thick bushes on the opposite bank
of the river. As I before mentioned, we could not cross the river on
account of the torrent, but in a few days it subsided, and the elephant
was found lying dead in the spot where they supposed he had fallen.

Thus happily ended the destruction of this notable pair; they had proved
themselves all that we had heard of them, and by their cunning dodge
of hiding in the thick jungle they had nearly made sure of us. We had
killed three rogues that morning, and we returned to our quarters well
satisfied.

Since that period I have somewhat thinned the number of rogues in this
neighbourhood. I had a careful and almost certain plan of shooting them.
Quite alone, with the exception of two faithful gun-bearers, I used to
wait at the edge of the jungle at their feeding time, and watch their
exit from the forest. The most cautious stalking then generally enabled
me to get a fatal shot before my presence was discovered. This is the
proper way to succeed with rogue elephants, although of course it is
attended with considerable danger. I was once very nearly caught near
this spot, where the elephants are always particularly savage. The
lake was then much diminished in size by dry weather, and the water had
retired for about a hundred yards from the edge of the forest, leaving
a deep bed of mud covered with slime and decayed vegetable matter.
This slime had hardened in the sun and formed a cake over the soft mud
beneath. Upon this treacherous surface a man could walk with great
care. Should the thin covering break through, he would be immediately
waist-deep in the soft mud. To plod through this was the elephant's
delight. Smearing a thick coat of the black mud over their whole bodies,
they formed a defensive armour against the attacks of mosquitoes, which
are the greatest torments that an elephant has to contend with.

I was watching the edge of the forest one afternoon at about four
o'clock, when I noticed the massive form of one of these tank rogues
stalk majestically from the jungle and proceed through the deep mud
towards the lake. I had the wind, and I commenced stalking him.

Advancing with my two gun-bearers in single file, I crept carefully from
tree to tree along the edge of the forest for about a quarter of a mile,
until I arrived at the very spot at which he had made his exit from the
jungle.

I was now within eighty yards of him as he stood with his head towards
the lake and his hind-quarters exactly facing me. His deep tracks in the
mud were about five feet apart, so great was his stride and length of
limb, and, although the soft bog was at least three and a half feet
deep, his belly was full two feet above the surface. He was a fine
fellow, and, with intense caution, I advanced towards him over the
trembling surface of baked slime. His tracks had nearly filled with
water, and looked like little wells. The bog waved as I walked carefully
over it, and I stopped once or twice, hesitating whether I should
continue; I feared the crusty surface would not support me, as the
nearer I approached the water's edge the weaker the coating of slime
became, not having been exposed for so long a time to the sun as that at
a greater distance.

He was making so much noise in splashing the mud over his body that
I had a fine chance for getting up to him. I could not withstand the
temptation, and I crept up as fast as I could.

I got within eight paces of him unperceived; the mud that he threw
over his back spattered round me as it fell. I was carrying a light
double-barrelled gun, but I now reached back my hand to exchange it for
my four-ounce rifle. Little did I expect the sudden effect produced
by the additional weight of the heavy weapon. The treacherous surface
suddenly gave way, and in an instant I was waist deep in mud. The noise
that I had made in falling had at once aroused the elephant, and, true
to his character of a rogue, he immediately advanced with a shrill
trumpet towards me. His ears were cocked, and his tail was well up; but
instead of charging, as rogues generally do, with his head thrown rather
back and held high, which renders a front shot very uncertain, he rather
lowered his head, and splashed towards me through the mud, apparently
despising my diminutive appearance.

I thought it was all up with me this time; I was immovable in my bed of
mud, and, instead of the clean brown barrel that I could usually trust
to in an extremity, I raised a mass of mud to my shoulder, which encased
my rifle like a flannel bag. I fully expected it to miss fire; no sights
were visible, and I had to guess the aim with the advancing elephant
within five yards of me. Hopelessly I pulled the slippery trigger. The
rifle did not even hang fire, and the rogue fell into the deep bed of
mud stone dead. If the rifle had missed fire I must have been killed, as
escape would have been impossible. It was with great difficulty that I
was extricated from my muddy position by the joint exertions of myself
and gun-bearers.

Elephants, buffaloes, and hogs are equally fond of wallowing in the mud.
A buffalo will gallop through a swamp, hock deep, in which a horse would
be utterly powerless, even without a rider. Elephants can also make
wonderful progress through deep mud, the formation of the hind legs
with knees instead of hocks giving them an increased facility for moving
through heavy ground.

The great risk in attacking rogue elephants consists in the
impracticability of quick movements upon such ground as they generally
frequent. The speed and activity of a man, although considerable upon a
smooth surface, is as nothing upon rough, stumpy grass wilds, where even
walking is laborious. What is comparatively level to an elephant's
foot is as a ploughed field to that of a man. This renders escape from
pursuit next to impossible, unless some welcome tree should be near,
round which the hunter could dodge, and even then he stands but a poor
chance, unless assistance is at hand. I have never seen anyone who could
run at full speed in rough ground without falling, if pursued. Large
stones, tufts of rank grass, holes, fallen boughs, gullies, are all
impediments to rapid locomotion when the pursued is forced to be
constantly looking back to watch the progress of his foe, and to be the
judge of his own race.

There is a great art in running away. It requires the perfection of
coolness and presence of mind, without which a man is most likely to run
into the very danger that he is trying to avoid. This was the cause
of Major Haddock's death in Ceylon some years ago. He had attacked a
'rogue,' and, being immediately charged, he failed to stop him, although
he gave him both barrels. Being forced to run, he went off at full
speed, and turning quickly round a tree, he hoped the elephant would
pass him. Unfortunately, he did not look behind him before he turned,
and the elephant passed round the opposite side of the tree, and, of
course, met him face to face. He was instantly trampled to death.

Mr. Wallet was also killed by a rogue elephant; this animal was shot a
few days afterwards, in a spirited contest, by Captain Galway and
Ensign Scroggs, both of whom were very nearly caught in the encounter.
A gentleman of the name of Keane was added to the list of victims a
few years ago. He had fired without effect, and was almost immediately
over-taken by the elephant and crushed to death. The most extraordinary
tale that I have ever heard of rogue elephants in Ceylon was told me by
the Rhatamahatmeya of Doolana, who was present at the scene when a lad.
I do not profess to credit it entirely; but I will give it in his own
words, and, to avoid the onus of an improbable story, I will entitle it
the 'Rhatamahatmeya's Tale.' In justice to him, I must acknowledge that
his account was corroborated by all the old men of the village.

THE RHATAMAHATMEYA'S TALE.

'There was a notorious rogue elephant at Doolana about thirty years
ago, whose ferocity was so extreme that he took complete possession of
a certain part of the country adjoining the lake. He had killed eight
or nine persons, and his whole object in existence appeared to be the
waylaying and destruction of the natives. He was of enormous size, and
was well known by a peculiar flesh-coloured forehead.

'In those days there were no fire-arms in this part of the country;
therefore there was no protection for either life or property from this
monster, who would invade the paddy-fields at night, and actually pull
down the watch-houses, regardless of the blazing fires which are lighted
on the hearth of sand on the summit; these he used to scatter about and
extinguish. He had killed several natives in this manner, involving them
in the common ruin with their watch-houses. The terror created by this
elephant was so extreme that the natives deserted the neighbourhood that
he infested.

'At length many months passed away without his being either seen or
heard of; the people began to hope that he had died from the effect
of poisoned arrows, which had frequently been shot at him from the
watch-houses in high trees; and, by degrees, the terror of his name had
lost its power, and he ceased to be thought of.

'It was in the cool of the evening, about an hour before sunset, that
about twenty of the women from the village were upon the grassy borders
of the lake, engaged in sorting and tying into bundles the rushes which
they had been gathering during the day for making mats. They were on the
point of starting homeward with their loads, when the sudden trumpet
of an elephant was heard, and to their horror they saw the well-known
rogue, with the unmistakable mark upon his forehead, coming down in full
charge upon them. The ground was perfectly open; there were no trees for
some hundred yards, except the jungle from which he was advancing at a
frightful speed. An indiscriminate flight of course took place, and a
race of terror commenced. In a few seconds the monster was among them,
and, seizing a young girl in his trunk, he held her high in the air, and
halted, as though uncertain how to dispose of his helpless victim. The
girl, meanwhile, was vainly shrieking for assistance, and the petrified
troop of women, having gained the shelter of some jungle, gazed
panic-stricken upon the impending fate of their companion.

'To their horror the elephant slowly lowered her in his trunk till near
the ground, when he gradually again raised her, and, bringing her head
into his mouth, a report was heard like the crack of a whip--it was
the sudden crushing of her skull. Tearing the head off by the neck, he
devoured it; and, placing his forefoot upon the body, he tore the arms
and legs from their sockets with his trunk, and devoured every portion
of her.

'The women rushed to the village with the news of this unnatural
carnage.

'Doolana and the neighbourhood has always been famous for its
elephant-hunters, and the husband of this unfortunate girl was one of
the most active in their pursuit. The animals are caught in this country
and sold to the Arabs, for the use of the Indian Government.

'The news of this bloody deed flew from village to village; war to
the knife was declared against the perpetrator, and preparations were
accordingly made.

'Since the murder of this girl he had taken up his abode in a small
isolated jungle adjoining, surrounded by a small open plain of fine soft
grass, upon a level sandy soil.

'A few days after this act, a hundred men assembled at
Doolana, determined upon his destruction. They were all picked
elephant-hunters--Moormen; active and sinewy fellows, accustomed to
danger from their childhood. Some were armed with axes, sharpened to the
keenest edge, some with long spears, and others with regular elephant
ropes, formed of the thongs of raw deer's hide, beautifully twisted.
Each division of men had a separate duty allotted.

'They marched towards the small jungle in which the rogue was known
to be; but he anticipated their wishes, and before they were within a
hundred paces of his lair, he charged furiously out. The conflict began
in good earnest. The spearmen were in advance, and the axemen were
divided into two parties, one on either flank, with an equal number of
ropemen. The instant that he charged the whole body of men ran forward
at full speed to meet him; still he continued his furious onset,
undismayed by the yells of a hundred men. The spearmen halted when
within twenty yards, then turned and fled; this had been agreed upon
beforehand. The elephant passed the two flanks of axemen in pursuit of
the flying enemy; the axemen immediately closed in behind him, led by
the husband of the murdered girl. By a well-directed blow upon the hind
leg, full of revenge, this active fellow divided the sinew in the first
joint above the foot.* (*Since this was written I have seen the African
elephant disabled by one blow of a sharp sword as described in the "Nile
Tributaries of Abyssinia.") That instant the elephant fell upon his
knees, but recovered himself directly, and endeavoured to turn upon
his pursuers; a dozen axes flashed in the sunbeams, as the strokes were
aimed at the other hind leg. It was the work of an instant: the massive
limb bent powerless under him, and he fell in a sitting posture, utterly
helpless, but roaring with mad and impotent fury. The ropemen now threw
nooses over his trunk and head; his struggles, although tremendous, were
in vain; fifty men, hanging their weight upon several ropes attached to
his trunk, rendered that dreaded weapon powerless. The sharp lances
were repeatedly driven into his side, and several of the boldest hunters
climbing up the steep ascent of his back, an axe was seen to fall
swiftly and repeatedly upon his spine, on the nape of his tough neck.
The giant form suddenly sank; the spine was divided, and the avenging
blow was dealt by the husband of his late victim. The destroyer was no
more. The victory was gained without the loss of a man.'

The natives said that this elephant was mad; if so it may account in
some measure for the unheard-of occurrence of an elephant devouring
flesh. Both elephants and buffaloes attack man from malice alone,
without the slightest idea of making a meal of him. This portion of the
headman's story I cannot possibly believe, although he swears to it.
The elephant may, perhaps, have cracked her head and torn his victim to
pieces in the manner described, but the actual 'eating' is incredible.




CHAPTER VI.

Character of the Veddahs--Description of the Veddahs--A Monampitya
Rogue--Attacking the Rogue--Breathless Excitement--Death of a Large
Rogue--Utility of the Four-ounce--A Curious Shot--Fury of a Bull
Buffalo--Character of the Wild Buffalo--Buffalo-shooting at Minneria
Lake--Charge in High Reeds--Close of a Good Day's Sport--Last Day at
Minneria--A Large Snake--An Unpleasant Bedfellow.

Doolana is upon the very verge of the most northern point of the Veddah
country, the whole of which wild district is the finest part of Ceylon
for sport. Even to this day few Europeans have hunted these secluded
wilds. The wandering Veddah, with his bow and arrows, is occasionally
seen roaming through his wilderness in search of deer, but the report
of a native's gun is never heard; the game is therefore comparatively
undisturbed. I have visited every portion of this fine sporting country,
and since I have acquired the thorough knowledge of its attractions, I
have made up my mind never to shoot anywhere but there. The country is
more open than in most parts of Ceylon, and the perfect wildness of the
whole district is an additional charm.

The dimensions of the Veddah country are about eighty miles from north
to south, by forty in width. A fine mountain, known as the 'Gunner's
Coin,' is an unmistakable landmark upon the northern boundary. From
this point a person may ride for forty miles without seeing a sign of a
habitation; the whole country is perfectly uncivilised, and its scanty
occupants, the 'Veddahs,' wander about like animals, without either
home, laws, or religion.

I have frequently read absurd descriptions of their manners and customs,
which must evidently have been gathered from hearsay, and not from
a knowledge of the people. It is a commonly believed report that the
Veddahs 'live in the trees,' and a stranger immediately confuses them
with rooks and monkeys. Whoever first saw Veddah huts in the trees would
have discovered, upon enquiry, that they were temporary watch-houses,
from which they guard a little plot of korrakan from the attacks of
elephants and other wild beasts. Far from LIVING in the trees, they
live nowhere; they wander over the face of their beautiful country, and
migrate to different parts at different seasons, with the game which
they are always pursuing. The seasons in Ceylon vary in an extraordinary
manner, considering the small size of the island. The wet season in one
district is the dry season in another, and vice versa. Wherever the dry
weather prevails, the pasturage is dried up; the brooks and pools are
mere sandy gullies and pits. The Veddah watches at some solitary hole
which still contains a little water, and to this the deer and every
species of Ceylon game resort. Here his broad-headed arrow finds a
supply. He dries the meat in long strips in the sun, and cleaning out
some hollow tree, he packs away his savoury mass of sun-cooked flesh,
and fills up the reservoir with wild honey; he then stops up the
aperture with clay.

The last drop of water evaporates, the deer leave the country and
migrate into other parts where mountains attract the rain and the
pasturage is abundant. The Veddah burns the parched grass wherever he
passes, and the country is soon a blackened surface--not a blade of
pasture remains; but the act of burning ensures a sweet supply shortly
after the rains commence, to which the game and the Veddahs will then
return. In the meantime he follows the game to other districts, living
in caves where they happen to abound, or making a temporary but with
grass and sticks.

Every deer-path, every rock, every peculiar feature in the country,
every pool of water, is known to these hunting Veddahs; they are
consequently the best assistants in the world in elephant-hunting. They
will run at top speed over hard ground upon an elephant's track which
is barely discernible even to the practised eye of a white man.
Fortunately, the number of these people is very trifling or the game
would be scarce.

They hunt like the leopard; noiselessly stalking till within ten paces
of their game, they let the broad arrow fly. At this distance who could
miss? Should the game be simply wounded, it is quite enough; they never
lose him, but hunt him up, like hounds upon a blood track.

Nevertheless, they are very bad shots with the bow and arrow, and they
never can improve while they restrict their practice to such short
ranges.

I have often tried them at a mark at sixty yards, and, although a very
bad hand with a bow myself, I have invariably beaten them with their own
weapons. These bows are six feet long, made of a light supple wood, and
the strings are made of the fibrous bark of a tree greased and twisted.
The arrows are three feet long, formed of the same wood as the bows. The
blades are themselves seven inches of this length, and are flat, like
the blade of a dinner-knife brought to a point. Three short feathers
from the peacock's wing are roughly lashed to the other end of the
arrow.

The Veddah in person is extremely ugly; short, but sinewy, his long
uncombed locks fall to his waist, looking more like a horse's tail than
human hair. He despises money, but is thankful for a knife, a hatchet,
or a gaudy-coloured cloth, or brass pot for cooking.

The women are horribly ugly and are almost entirely naked. They have
no matrimonial regulations, and the children are squalid and miserable.
Still these people are perfectly happy, and would prefer their present
wandering life to the most luxurious restraint. Speaking a language of
their own, with habits akin to those of wild animals, they keep entirely
apart from the Cingalese. They barter deer-horns and bees'-wax with the
travelling Moormen pedlers in exchange for their trifling requirements.
If they have food, they eat it; if they have none, they go without until
by some chance they procure it. In the meantime they chew the bark of
various trees, and search for berries, while they wend their way for
many miles to some remembered store of deer's flesh and honey, laid by
in a hollow tree.

The first time that I ever saw a Veddah was in the north of the country.
A rogue elephant was bathing in a little pool of deep mud and water near
the tank of Monampitya, about six miles from the 'Gunner's Coin.' This
Veddah had killed a wild pig, and was smoking the flesh within a few
yards of the spot, when he suddenly heard the elephant splashing in
the water. My tent was pitched within a mile of the place, and he
accordingly brought me the intelligence.

Upon arrival at the pool I found the elephant so deep in the mud that he
could barely move. His hind-quarters were towards me; and the pool not
being more than thirty yards in diameter, and surrounded by impenetrable
rattan jungle on all sides but one small opening, in which I stood,
I was obliged to clap my hands to attract his attention. This had the
desired effect; he turned slowly round, and I shot him immediately. This
was one of the Monampitya tank rogues, but in his muddy position he had
no chance.

The largest elephant that I have ever seen was in this neighbourhood. I
had arrived one afternoon at about five o'clock in a fine plain, about
twelve miles from Monampitya, where the presence of a beautiful lake and
high grass promised an abundance of game. It was a most secluded spot,
and my tent and coolies being well up with my horse, I fixed upon a
shady nook for the tent, and I strolled out to look for the tracks while
it was being pitched.

A long promontory stretched some hundred yards into the lake, exactly
opposite the spot I had fixed upon for the encampment, and, knowing that
elephants when bathing generally land upon the nearest shore, I walked
out towards the point of this projecting neck of land.

The weather was very dry, and the ground was a mass of little pitfalls,
about two feet deep, which had been made by the feet of the elephants in
the wet weather, when this spot was soft mud and evidently the favourite
resort of the heavy game. The ground was now baked by the sun as hard
as though it were frozen, and the numerous deep ruts made walking very
difficult. Several large trees and a few bushes grew upon the surface,
but for the most part it was covered by a short though luxuriant grass.
One large tree grew within fifty yards of the extreme point of the
promontory, and another of the same kind grew at an equal distance from
it, but nearer to the main land. Upon both these trees was a coat of
thick mud not many hours old. The bark was rubbed completely away, and
this appeared to have been used for years as a favourite rubbing-post by
some immense elephant. The mud reached full twelve feet up the trunk of
the tree, and there were old marks far above this which had been scored
by his tusks. There was no doubt that one of these tank rogues of
extraordinary size had frequented this spot for years, and still
continued to do so, the mud upon the tree being still soft, as though it
had been left there that morning. I already coveted him, and having my
telescope with me, I took a minute survey of the opposite shore, which
was about half a mile distant and was lined with fine open forest to the
water's edge. Nothing was visible. I examined the other side of the lake
with the same want of success. Although it was such a quiet spot, with
beautiful grass and water, there was not a single head of game to be
seen. Again I scrutinised the opposite shore. The glass was no sooner
raised to my eye than I started at the unexpected apparition. There was
no mistaking him; he had appeared as though by magic--an elephant of the
most extraordinary size that I have ever seen. He was not still for an
instant, but was stalking quickly up and down the edge of the lake as
though in great agitation. This restlessness is one of the chief
characteristics of a bad rogue. I watched him for a few minutes, until
he at length took to the water, and after blowing several streams over
his shoulders, he advanced to the middle of the tank, where he commenced
feeding upon the lotus leaves and sedges.

It was a calm afternoon, and not a breath of air was stirring;
and fearing lest the noise of the coolies, who were arranging the
encampment, should disturb him, I hastened back. I soon restored
quiet, and ordering the horses to be led into the jungle lest he should
discover them, I made the people conceal themselves; and taking my two
Moormen gun-bearers, who were trusty fellows that I had frequently shot
with, I crept cautiously back to my former position, and took my station
behind the large tree farthest from the point which commanded the
favourite rubbing-post and within fifty yards of it. From this place I
attentively watched his movements. He was wandering about in the water,
alternately feeding and bathing, and there was a peculiar devilry in his
movements that marked him as a rogue of the first class. He at length
made up his mind to cross the tank, and he advanced at quick strides
through the water straight for the point upon which I hoped to meet him.

This was an exciting moment. I had no companion, but depended upon
my own gun, and the rutty nature of the ground precluded any quick
movements. The watching of the game is the intense excitement of
elephant-shooting--a feeling which only lasts until the animal is within
shot, when it suddenly vanishes and gives place to perfect calmness. At
this time I could distinctly hear the beating of my own heart, and
my two gun-bearers, who did not know what fear was, were literally
trembling with excitement.

He was certainly a king of beasts, and proudly he advanced towards the
point. Suddenly he disappeared; nothing could be seen but his trunk
above the water as he waded through the deep channel for a few yards,
and then reared his majestic form dripping from the lake. He stood upon
the 'point.' I never saw so grand an animal; it seemed as though no
single ball could kill him, and although his head and carcass were
enormous, still his length of leg appeared disproportionately great.
With quick, springy paces he advanced directly for his favourite tree
and began his process of rubbing, perfectly unaware of the hidden foes
so near him.

Having finished his rubbing, he tore up several bunches of grass, but
without eating them he threw them pettishly over his back, and tossed
some from side to side. I was in momentary dread lest a horse should
neigh and disturb him, as they were within 200 paces of where he stood.
Everything was, however, quiet in that direction, where the hiding
coolies were watching the impending event with breathless interest.

Having amused himself for some moments by kicking up the turf and dirt
and throwing the sand over his back, he took it into his head to visit
the main shore, and for this purpose he strode quickly in the direction
of the encampment. I moved round the tree to secrete myself as he
advanced. He was soon exactly at right angles with me as he was passing
the tree, when he suddenly stopped: his whole demeanour changed in an
instant; his ears cocked, his eyes gleamed, his tail on end and his
trunk raised high in the air, he turned the distended tip towards the
tree from behind which I was watching him. He was perfectly motionless
and silent in this attitude for some moments. He was thirty yards
from me, as I supposed at the time, and I reserved my fire, having the
four-ounce rifle ready. Suddenly, with his trunk still raised, his
long legs swung forward towards me. There was no time to lose; I was
discovered, and a front shot would be useless with his trunk in that
position. Just as his head was in the act of turning towards me I took
a steady shot at his temple. He sank gently upon his knees, and never
afterwards moved a muscle! His eyes were open, and so bright that
I pushed my finger in them to assure myself that life was perfectly
extinct. He was exactly thirty-two paces from the rifle, and the ball
had passed in at one temple and out at the other. His height may be
imagined from this rough method of measuring. A gun-bearer climbed upon
his back as the elephant lay upon all-fours, and holding a long stick
across his spine at right angles, I could just touch it with the points
of my fingers by reaching to my utmost height. Thus, as he lay, his back
was seven feet two inches, perpendicular height, from the ground. This
would make his height when erect about twelve feet on the spine-an
enormous height for an elephant, as twelve feet on the top of the back
is about equal to eleven feet six inches at the shoulder. If I had not
fortunately killed this elephant at the first shot, I should have
had enough to do to take care of myself, as he was one of the most
vicious-looking brutes that I ever saw, and he was in the very act of
charging when I shot him.

With these elephants the four-ounce rifle is an invaluable weapon; even
if the animal is not struck in the mortal spot, the force of the blow
upon the head is so great that it will generally bring him upon his
knees, or at least stop him. It has failed once or twice in this, but
not often; and upon those occasions I had loaded with the conical ball.
This, although it will penetrate much farther through a thick substance
than a round ball, is not so effective in elephant-shooting as the
latter. The reason is plain enough. No shot in the head will kill an
elephant dead unless it passes through the brain; an ounce ball will
effect this as well as a six-pound shot; but there are many cases where
the brain cannot be touched, by a peculiar method of carrying the
head and trunk in charging, etc.; a power is then required that by the
concussion will knock him down, or turn him; this power is greater in
the round ball than in the conical, as a larger surface is suddenly
struck. The effect is similar to a man being run through the arm with
a rapier or thrust at with a poker--the rapier will pass through him
almost without his knowledge, but the poker will knock him down. Thus
the pointed conical ball will, perhaps, pass through an elephant's
forehead and penetrate as far as his shoulders, but it will produce no
immediate effect. For buffalo-shooting the conical ball is preferable,
as with the heavy charge of powder that I use it will pass completely
through him from end to end. A four-ounce ball, raking an animal from
stem to stern, must settle him at once. This is a desirable thing to
accomplish with wild buffaloes, as they may, frequently prove awkward
customers, even after receiving several mortal wounds from light guns.

The four-ounce conical ball should be an excellent weapon for African
shooting, where the usual shot at an elephant is at the shoulder. This
shot would never answer in Ceylon; the country is not sufficiently open
to watch the effects produced upon the animal, and although he may have
a mortal wound, he carries it away with him and is not bagged. I have
frequently tried this shot; and, although I have seen the elephants go
away with ears and trunk drooping, still I have never bagged more than
one by any but the head shot. This fellow was a small 'tusker,' who
formed one of a herd in thick thorny jungle. There were several rocks in
this low jungle which overtopped the highest bushes; and having taken my
station upon one of these, I got a downward shot between the shoulders
at the tusker, and dropped him immediately as the herd passed beneath.
The jungle was so thick that I could not see his head, or, of course,
I should have chosen the usual shot. This shot was not a fair criterion
for the shoulder, as I happened to be in a position that enabled me to
fire down upon him, and the ball most likely passed completely through
him.

I remember a curious and unexpected shot that I once made with the
four-ounce rifle, which illustrates its immense power. I was shooting at
Minneria, and was returning to the tent in the afternoon, having had
a great day's sport with buffaloes, when I saw a large herd in the
distance, ranged up together, and gazing intently at some object near
them. Being on horseback I rode up to them, carrying my heavy rifle;
and, upon a near approach I discovered two large bulls fighting
furiously. This combat was exciting the attention of the herd, who
retreated upon my approach. The two bulls were so engaged in their duel
that they did not notice me until I was within fifty yards of them.
First one, then the other, was borne to the ground, when presently their
horns became locked together, as though arm in arm. The more they tugged
to separate themselves, the tighter they held together, and at length
they ranged side by side, Taking a shot at the shoulder of the nearest
bull, they both fell suddenly to the ground. The fall unlocked their
horns, and one bull recovering his legs, retreated at a slow pace and
dead lame. The nearest bull was killed, and mounting my horse I galloped
after the wounded buffalo. The chase did not last long. Upon arriving
within fifty yards of his flank, I noticed the blood streaming from his
mouth, and he presently rolled over and died. The ball, having passed
through his antagonist, had entered his shoulder, and, smashing the
shoulder-blade, had passed through the body, lodging in the tough hide
upon his opposite side, from which I extracted it by simply cutting the
skin which covered it.

I have frequently seen the bull buffaloes fight each other with great
fury. Upon these occasions they are generally the most dangerous, all
their natural ferocity being increased by the heat of the combat. I
was once in pursuit of an elephant which led me across the plain at
Minneria, when I suddenly observed a large bull buffalo making towards
me, as though to cut me off in the very direction in which I was
advancing. Upon his near approach I noticed numerous bloody cuts and
scratches upon his neck and shoulders, which were evidently only just
made by the horns of some bull with whom he had been fighting. Not
wishing to fire, lest I should alarm the elephant, I endeavoured to
avoid him, but this was no easy task. He advanced to within fifty paces
of me, and, ploughing up the ground with his horns, and roaring, he
seemed determined to make an attack. However, I managed to pass him at
length, being determined to pay him off on my return, if he were still
in the same spot.

On arriving near the position of the elephant, I saw at once that it was
impossible to get him: he was standing in a deep morass of great extent,
backed by thick jungles, and I could not approach nearer than 150 paces.
After trying several ruses to induce him to quit his mud-bath and come
on, I found it was of no use; he was not disposed to be a fighter, as
he saw my strong position upon some open rising ground among some large
trees. I therefore took a rest upon the branch of a tree, and gave him
a shot from the four-ounce rifle through the shoulder. This sent him
to the thick jungle with ears and trunk drooping, but produced no other
effect. I therefore returned towards the tent, fully expecting to meet
my old enemy, the bull, whom I had left master of the field. In this
I was not disappointed; he was standing within a few yards of the same
spot, and, upon seeing me, he immediately advanced, having a very poor
opinion of an enemy who had retreated from him an hour previous.

Instead of charging at a rapid pace he trotted slowly up, and I gave him
the four-ounce when within fifty yards. This knocked him over; but, to
my astonishment, he recovered himself instantly and galloped towards me.
Again he stopped within twenty yards of me, and it was fortunate for me
that he did; for a servant who was carrying my long two-ounce rifle had,
in his excitement, cocked it and actually set the hair-trigger. This
he managed to touch as he handed it to me, and it exploded close to
my head. I had only a light double-gun loaded, and the buffalo was
evidently prepared to charge in a few seconds.

To my great satisfaction I saw the bloody foam gathering upon his lips,
and I knew that he was struck through the lungs; but, nevertheless, the
distance was so short between us that he could reach me in two or three
bounds. Keeping my Moorman with the light gun close to me in readiness,
I began to load my two big rifles. In the mean time the bull was
advancing step by step with an expression of determined malice, and my
Cingalese servant, in an abject state of fright, was imploring me to
run--simply as an excuse for his own flight. 'Buffalo's coming, sar!
Master, run plenty, quick! Buffalo's coming, sar! Master, get big tree!'
I could not turn to silence the fellow, but I caught him a fine backward
kick upon the shins with my heel, which stopped him, and in a few
seconds I was loaded and the four-ounce was in my hand. The bull, at
this time, was not fifteen yards from me; but, just as I was going to
fire, I saw him reel to one side; and in another moment he rolled upon
his back, a dead buffalo, although I had not fired after my first shot.
The ball, having entered his chest, was sticking in the skin of his
haunch, having passed through his lungs. His wonderful pluck had kept
him upon his legs until life was extinct.

I am almost tired of recounting so many instances of the courage of
these beasts. When I look back to those scenes, so many ghosts of
victims rise up before me that, were I to relate one-half their
histories, it would fill a volume. The object in describing these
encounters is to show the style of animal that the buffalo is in his
natural state. I could relate a hundred instances where they have died
like curs, and have afforded no more sport than tame cows; but I merely
enumerate those scenes worth relating that I have witnessed. This will
show that the character of a wild buffalo can never be depended upon;
and if the pursuit is followed up as a sport by itself, the nature
of the animal cannot be judged by the individual behaviour of any
particular beast. Some will fight and some will fly, and no one can tell
which will take place; it is at the option of the beast. Caution and
good shooting, combined with heavy rifles, are necessary. Without heavy
metal the sport would be superlatively dangerous if regularly followed
up. Many persons kill a wild buffalo every now and then; but I have
never met with a single sportsman in Ceylon who has devoted himself to
the pursuit as a separate sport. Unless this is done the real character
of buffaloes in general must remain unknown. It may, however, be
considered as a rule with few exceptions that the buffaloes seldom
commence the attack unless pursued. Their instinct at once tells them
whether the man advancing towards them over the plain comes as an enemy.
They may then attack; but if unmolested they will generally retreat,
and, like all men of true courage, they will never seek a quarrel,
and never give in when it is forced upon them. Many descriptions of
my encounters with these animals may appear to militate against this
theory, but they are the exceptions that I have met with; the fierce
look of defiance and the quick tossing of the head may appear to
portend a charge, but the animals are generally satisfied with this
demonstration, and retreat.

Attack the single bulls and follow them up, and they will soon show
their real character. Heavy rifles then make a good sport of what
would otherwise be a chance of ten to one against the man. It must be
remembered that the attack is generally upon an extensive plain, without
a single sheltering tree; escape by speed is therefore impossible, and
even a horse must be a good one or a buffalo will catch him.

Without wading through the many scenes of carnage that I have witnessed
in this branch of sport, I will sum up the account of buffalo-shooting
by a description of one day's work at Minneria.

The tent was pitched in a secluded spot beneath some shady trees,
through which no ray of sun could penetrate; the open forest surrounded
it on all sides, but through the vistas of dark stems the beautiful
green plain and glassy lake could be seen stretching into an undefined
distance. The blue hills, apparently springing from the bosom of the
lake, lined the horizon, and the shadowy forms of the Kandian mountains
mingled indistinctly with the distant clouds. From this spot, with a
good telescope, I could watch the greater part of the plain, which was
at this time enlivened by the numerous herds of wild buffaloes scattered
over the surface. A large bull was standing alone about half a mile from
the tent, and I thought him a fine beast to begin with.

I started with two well-known and trusty gun-bearers. This bull
apparently did not wish to fight, and when at nearly 400 yards'
distance he turned and galloped off. I put up all the sights of the
long two-ounce rifle, and for an instant he dropped to the shot at this
distance, but recovering immediately he turned round, and, although upon
only three legs, he charged towards me. At this distance I should have
had ample time to reload before he could have come near me, so I took
a quiet shot at him with my four-ounce rifle. A second passed, and he
pitched upon his head and lay upon the ground, struggling in vain to
rise. This was an immensely long shot to produce so immediate an effect
so reloading quickly I stepped the distance. I measured 352 paces, and
I then stood within ten yards of him, as he still lay upon the ground,
endeavouring vainly to rush at me. A ball in his head settled him. The
first shot had broken his hind leg--and the shot with the big rifle
had hit him on the nose, and, tearing away the upper jaw, it had passed
along his neck and escaped from behind his shoulder. This was a great
chance to hit him so exactly at such a range. His skull is now in
England, exhibiting the terrific effect of the heavy ball.

I had made up my mind for a long day's work, and I therefore mounted my
horse and rode over the plain. The buffaloes were very wild, as I had
been shooting here for some days, and there were no less than forty-two
carcasses scattered about the plain in different directions. I fired
several ineffectual shots at immense ranges; at length I even fired at
random into a large herd, which seemed determined to take to the jungle.
After they had galloped for a quarter of a mile, a cow dropped to the
rear and presently fell. Upon riding up to her I found her in the last
gasp; the random shot had struck her behind the shoulder, and I finished
her by a ball in the head. One of the bulls from this herd had separated
from the troop, and had taken to the lake; he had waded out for about
400 yards, and was standing shoulder-deep. This was a fine target; a
black spot upon the bright surface of the lake, although there was not
more than eighteen inches of his body above the water. I rode to the
very edge of the lake, and then dismounting I took a rest upon my
saddle. My horse, being well accustomed to this work, stood like a
statue, but the ball dapped in the water just beyond the mark. The
buffalo did not move an inch until the third shot. This hit him, and he
swam still farther off; but he soon got his footing, and again gave a
fair mark as before. I missed him again, having fired a little over him.
The fifth shot brought luck and sank him. I do not know where he was
hit, as of course I could not get to him; but most likely it was in the
spine, as so small a portion of his body was above water.

I passed nearly the whole day in practising at long ranges; but with no
very satisfactory effect; several buffaloes badly wounded had reached
the jungle, and my shoulder was so sore from the recoil of the heavy
rifle during several days' shooting with the large charge of powder,
that I was obliged to reduce the charge to six drachms and give up the
long shots.

It was late in the afternoon, and the heat of the day had been intense.
I was very hungry, not having breakfasted, and I made up my mind to
return to the tent, which was now some eight miles distant. I was riding
over the plain on my way home, when I saw a fine bull spring from a
swampy hollow and gallop off. Putting spurs to my horse, I was soon
after him, carrying the four-ounce rifle; and, upon seeing himself
pursued, he took shelter in a low but dry hollow, which was a mass of
lofty bulrush and coarse tangled grass, rising about ten feet high in
an impervious mass. This had been a pool in the wet weather, but was now
dried up, and was nothing but a bed of sedges and high rushes. I could
see nothing of the bull, although I knew he was in it. The hollow was
in the centre of a wide plain, so I knew that the buffalo could not have
passed out without my seeing him, and my gun-bearers having come up, I
made them pelt the rushes with dried clods of earth. It was of no use:
he would not break cover; so I determined to ride in and hunt him up.
The grass was so thick and entangled with the rushes that my horse could
with difficulty force his way through it; and when within the dense mass
of vegetation it towered high above my head, and was so thick that I
could not see a yard to my right or left. I beat about to no purpose
for about twenty minutes, and I was on the point of giving it up, when I
suddenly saw the tall reeds bow down just before me. I heard the rush
of an animal as he burst through, and I just saw the broad black nose,
quickly followed by the head and horns, as the buffalo charged into
me. The horse reared to his full height as the horns almost touched
his chest, and I fired as well as I was able. In another instant I was
rolling on the ground, with my horse upon me, in a cloud of smoke and
confusion.

In a most unsportsmanlike manner (as persons may exclaim who were
not there) I hid behind my horse, as he regained his legs. All was
still--the snorting of the frightened horse was all that I could hear. I
expected to have seen the infuriated buffalo among us. I peeped over the
horse's back, and, to my delight and surprise, I saw the carcass of the
bull lying within three feet of him. His head was pierced by the ball
exactly between the horns, and death had been instantaneous. The horse,
having reared to his full height, had entangled his hind legs in the
grass, and he had fallen backwards without being touched by the buffalo,
although the horns were close into him.

I was rather pleased at being so well out of this scrape, and I made up
my mind never again to follow buffaloes into high grass. Turning towards
the position of the tent, I rode homewards. The plain appeared deserted,
and I rode for three or four miles along the shores of the lake without
seeing a head of game. At length, when within about three miles of the
encampment, I saw a small herd of five buffaloes and three half-grown
calves standing upon a narrow point of muddy ground which projected for
some distance into the lake.

I immediately rode towards them, and upon approaching to within sixty
yards, I found they consisted of three cows, two bulls, and three
calves. I had advanced towards them upon the neck of land upon which
they stood; there was, therefore, no retreat for them unless they took
to the water. They perceived this themselves, but they preferred the
bolder plan of charging through all opposition and then reaching the
main land. After a few preliminary grunts and tosses of the head, one of
the bulls charged straight at me at full gallop; he was not followed by
his companions, who were still irresolute; and, when within forty yards,
he sprang high in the air, and pitching upon his horns, he floundered
upon his back as the rifle-ball passed through his neck and broke his
spine. I immediately commenced reloading, but the ball was only half-way
down the barrel when the remaining bull, undismayed by the fate of his
companion, rushed on at full speed. Snatching the long two-ounce rifle
from a gun-bearer, I made a lucky shot. The ball must have passed
through his heart, as he fell stone dead.

The three cows remained passive spectators of the death of their mates,
although I was convinced by their expression that they would eventually
show fight. I was soon reloaded, and not wishing to act simply on the
defensive, and thus run the risk of a simultaneous onset, I fired at the
throat of the most vicious of the party. The two-ounce ball produced
no other effect than an immediate charge. She bounded towards me, and,
although bleeding at the mouth, the distance was so short that she would
have been into me had I not stopped her with the four-ounce rifle,
which brought her to the ground when within fifteen paces; here she lay
disabled, but not dead, and again I reloaded as fast as possible.

The two remaining cows appeared to have taken a lesson from the fate of
their comrades; and showing no disposition to charge, I advanced towards
them to within twenty yards. One of the cows now commended tearing the
muddy ground with her horns, and thus offered a certain shot, which I
accordingly took, and dropped her dead with a ball in the nape of the
neck. This was too much for the remaining buffalo; she turned to plunge
into the lake, but the four-ounce through her shoulder brought her
down before she could reach the water, into which the three calves had
sprung, and were swimming for the main shore. I hit the last calf in the
head with a double-barrelled gun, and he immediately sank; and I missed
another calf with the left-hand barrel; therefore two escaped. I sent a
man into the water to find the dead calf, which he soon did, and hauled
it to the shore; and having reloaded, I proceeded to examine the hits on
the dead buffaloes. It was fortunate that I had reloaded; for I had no
sooner approached to within three or four yards of the cow that I
had left dying, when she suddenly sprang to her feet, and would have
charged, had I not killed her by a ball in the head from a light
double-barrel that I was then carrying. These animals had shown as good
sport as I had ever witnessed in buffalo-shooting, but the two heavy
rifles were fearful odds against them, and they were added to the list
of the slain. It was now late in the evening, and I had had a long day's
work in the broiling sun. I had bagged ten buffaloes, including the
calf, and having cut a fillet from the latter, I took a gun, loaded with
shot, from my horse-keeper, and gave up ball-shooting, having turned my
attention to a large flock of teal, which I had disturbed in attacking
the buffaloes. This flock I had marked down in a small stream which
flowed into the lake. A cautious approach upon my hands and knees,
through the grass, brought me undiscovered to the bank of the stream,
where, in a small bay, it emptied itself into the lake, and a flock of
about eighty teal were swimming among the water-lilies within twenty
yards of me. I fired one barrel on the water, and the other in the
air as they rose, killing five and wounding a sixth, which escaped by
continual diving. On my way home I killed a few snipe, till at length
the cessation of daylight put an end to all shooting.

The moon was full and shone over the lake with great brilliancy; the air
was cool and refreshing after the great heat of the day; and the chirp
of the snipe and whistling sound of the wild fowl on the lake were the
only noises that disturbed the wild scene around. The tent fires were
blazing brightly in the forest at about a mile distant; and giving my
gun to the horse-keeper, I mounted and rode towards the spot.

I was within half a mile of the tent, and had just turned round an
angle made by the forest, when I suddenly saw the grey forms of several
elephants, who had just emerged from the forest, and were feeding in the
high grass within a hundred yards of me. I counted seven, six of which
were close to the edge of the jungle, but the seventh was a large bull
elephant, who had advanced by himself about sixty yards into the plain.
I thought I could cut this fellow off, and, taking my big rifle, I
dismounted and crept cautiously towards him. He winded me before I had
gone many paces, gave a shrill trumpet of alarm, and started off for the
jungle; the rest of the herd vanished like magic, while I ran after the
bull elephant at my best speed. He was too quick for me, and I could
not gain upon him, so, halting suddenly, I took a steady shot at his ear
with the four-ounce at about seventy yards. Down he went to the shot,
but I heard him roar as he lay upon the ground, and I knew he would be
up again in a moment. In the same instant, as I dropped my empty rifle,
a double-barrelled gun was pushed into my hand, and I ran up to him,
just in time to catch him as he was half risen. Feeling sure of him, I
ran up within two yards of his head and fired into his forehead. To
my amazement he jumped quickly up, and with a loud trumpet he rushed
towards the jungle. I could just keep close alongside him, as the grass
was short and the ground level, and being determined to get him, I ran
close to his shoulder, and, taking a steady shot behind the ear, I fired
my remaining barrel. Judge of my surprise!--it only increased his speed,
and in another moment he reached the jungle: he was gone. He seemed to
bear a charmed life. I had taken two shots within a few feet of him that
I would have staked my life upon. I looked at my gun. Ye gods! I had
been firing SNIPE SHOT at him. It was my rascally horse-keeper, who
had actually handed me the shot-gun, which I had received as the
double-barrelled ball-gun that I knew was carried by a gun-bearer. How
I did thrash him! If the elephant had charged instead of making off I
should have been caught to a certainty.

This day's shooting was the last day of good sport that I ever had at
Minneria. It was in June, 1847. The next morning I moved my encampment
and started homewards. To my surprise I saw a rogue elephant drinking in
the lake, within a quarter of a mile of me; but the Fates were against
his capture. I stalked him as well as I could, but he winded me, and
came on in full charge with his trunk up. The heavy rifle fortunately
turned but did not kill him, and he escaped in thorny jungle, through
which I did not choose to follow.

On my way to the main road from Trincomalee to Kandy I walked on through
the jungle path, about a mile ahead of my followers, to look out
for game. Upon arriving at the open country in the neighbourhood of
Cowdellai, I got a shot at a deer at a killing distance. She was not
twenty yards off, and was looking at me as if spellbound. This provided
me with venison for a couple of days. The rapid decomposition of all
things in a tropical climate renders a continued supply of animal food
very precarious, if the produce of the rifle is alone to be depended
upon. Venison killed on one day would be uneatable on the day following,
unless it were half-dressed shortly after it was killed; thus the size
of the animal in no way contributes to the continuation of the supply
of food, as the meat will not keep. Even snipe killed on one morning
are putrid the next evening; the quantity of game required for the
subsistence of one person is consequently very large.

After killing the deer I stalked a fine peacock, who gave me an
hour's work before I could get near him. These birds are very wary
and difficult to approach; but I at length got him into a large bush,
surrounded by open ground. A stone thrown into this dislodged him, and
he gave me a splendid flying shot at about thirty yards. I bagged him
with the two-ounce rifle, but the large ball damaged him terribly. There
are few better birds than a Ceylon peafowl, if kept for two days and
then washed in vinegar: they combine the flavour of the turkey and the
pheasant.

I was obliged to carry the bird myself, as my two gun-bearers were
staggering under the weight of the deer, and the spare guns were carried
by my tracker. We were proceeding slowly along, when the tracker, who
was in advance, suddenly sprang back and pointed to some object in the
path. It was certainly enough to startle any man. An enormous serpent
lay coiled in the path. His head was about the size of a very small
cocoa-nut, divided lengthways, and this was raised about eighteen inches
above the coil. His eyes were fixed upon us, and his forked tongue
played in and out of his mouth with a continued hiss. Aiming at his
head, I fired at him with a double-barrelled gun, within four paces, and
blew his head to pieces. He appeared stone dead; but upon pulling him
by the tail, to stretch him out at full length, he wreathed himself in
convulsive coils, and lashing himself out in full length, he mowed down
the high grass in all directions. This obliged me to stand clear, as his
blows were terrific, and the thickest part of his body was as large as
a man's thigh. I at length thought of an expedient for securing him.
Cutting some sharp-pointed stakes, I waited till he was again quiet,
when I suddenly pinned his tail to the ground with my hunting-knife, and
thrusting the pointed stake into the hole, I drove it deeply into the
ground with the butt end of my rifle. The boa made some objection to
this, and again he commenced his former muscular contortions. I waited
till they were over, and having provided myself with some tough jungle
rope (a species of creeper), I once more approached him, and pinning his
throat to the ground with a stake, I tied the rope through the incision,
and the united exertions of myself and three men hauled him out
perfectly straight. I then drove a stake firmly through his throat
and pinned him out. He was fifteen feet in length, and it required our
united strength to tear off his skin, which shone with a variety of
passing colours. On losing his hide he tore away from the stakes; and
although his head was shivered to atoms, and he had lost three feet
of his length of neck by the ball having cut through this part, which
separated in tearing off the skin, still he lashed out and writhed in
frightful convulsions, which continued until I left him, bearing as my
trophy his scaly hide. These boas will kill deer, and by crushing them
into a sort of sausage they are enabled by degrees to swallow them.
There are many of these reptiles in Ceylon; but they are seldom seen,
as they generally wander forth at night. There are marvellous stories
of their size, and my men assured me that they had seen much larger than
the snake now mentioned; to me he appeared a horrible monster.

I do not know anything so disgusting as a snake. There is an instinctive
feeling that the arch enemy is personified when these wretches glide
by you, and the blood chills with horror. I took the dried skin of this
fellow to England; it measures twelve feet in its dry state, minus
the piece that was broken from his neck, making him the length before
mentioned of fifteen feet.

I have often been astonished that comparatively so few accidents happen
in Ceylon from snake-bites; their immense number and the close nature of
the country making it a dangerous risk to the naked feet of the natives.
I was once lying upon a sofa in a rest-house at Kandellai, when I saw
a snake about four feet long glide in at the open door, and, as though
accustomed to a particular spot for his lodging, he at once climbed upon
another sofa and coiled himself under the pillow. My brother had only
just risen from this sofa, and was sitting at the table watching the
movements of his uninvited bedfellow. I soon poked him out with a stick,
and cut off his head with a hunting-knife. This snake was of a very
poisonous description, and was evidently accustomed to lodge behind the
pillow, upon which the unwary sleeper might have received a fatal bite.
Upon taking possession of an unfrequented rest-house, the cushions of
the sofas and bedsteads should always be examined, as they are great
attractions to snakes, scorpions, centipedes, and all manner of
reptiles.





CHAPTER VII

Capabilities of Ceylon--Deer at Illepecadewe--Sagacity of a Pariah
Dog--Two Deer at One Shot--Deer-stalking--Hambantotte Country--Kattregam
Festival--Sitrawelle--Ruins of Ancient Mahagam--Wiharewelle--A Night
Attack upon Elephants--Shooting by Moonlight--Yalle River--Another
Rogue--A Stroll before Breakfast--A Curious Shot--A Good Day's Sport.

There are few countries which present a more lovely appearance than
Ceylon. There is a diversity in the scenery which refreshes the eye;
and although the evergreen appearance might appear monotonous to some
persons, still, were they residents, they would observe that the colour
of the foliage is undergoing a constant change by the varying tints of
the leaves in the different stages of their growth. These tints are far
more lovely than the autumnal shades of England, and their brilliancy
is enhanced by the idea that it is the bursting of the young leaf into
life, the freshness of youth instead of the sere leaf of a past summer,
which, after gilding for a few days the beauty of the woods, drops from
frozen branches and deserts them. Every shade of colour is seen in the
Ceylon forests, as the young leaves are constantly replacing those which
have fallen without being missed. The deepest crimson, the brightest
yellow and green of every shade, combine to form a beautiful crest to
the forest-covered surface of the island.

There is no doubt, however, that there is too much wood in Ceylon; it
prevents the free circulation of air, and promotes dampness, malaria,
and consequently fevers and dysentery, the latter disease being
the scourge of the colony. The low country is accordingly decidedly
unhealthy.

This vast amount of forest and jungle is a great impediment to the
enjoyment of travelling. The heat in the narrow paths cut through dense
jungles is extreme; and after a journey of seventy or eighty miles
through this style of country the eye scans the wild plains and
mountains with delight. Some districts, however, are perfectly devoid of
trees, and form a succession of undulating downs of short grass. Other
parts, again, although devoid of heavy timber, are covered with dense
thorny jungles, especially the country adjoining the sea-coast, which
is generally of a uniform character round the whole island, being
interspersed with sand plains producing a short grass.

Much has been said by some authors of the "capabilities" of Ceylon; but
however enticing the description of these capabilities may have been,
the proof has been decidedly in opposition to the theory. Few countries
exist with such an immense proportion of bad soil. There are no minerals
except iron, no limestone except dolomite, no other rocks than quartz
and gneiss. The natural pastures are poor; the timber of the forests
is the only natural production of any value, with the exception of
cinnamon. Sugar estates do not answer, and coffee requires an expensive
system of cultivation by frequent manuring. In fact, the soil is
wretched; so bad that the natives, by felling the forest and burning the
timber upon the ground, can only produce one crop of some poor grain;
the land is then exhausted, and upon its consequent desertion it gives
birth to an impenetrable mass of low jungle, comprising every thorn
that can be conceived. This deserted land, fallen again into the hand of
Nature, forms the jungle of Ceylon; and as native cultivation has thus
continued for some thousand years, the immense tract of country now in
this impenetrable state is easily accounted for. The forests vary in
appearance; some are perfectly free from underwood, being composed of
enormous trees, whose branches effectually exclude the rays of the sun;
but they generally consist of large trees, which tower above a thick,
and for the most part thorny, underwood, difficult to penetrate.

The features of Ceylon scenery may, therefore, be divided as follows:--

Natural forest, extending over the greater portion. Thorny jungle,
extending over a large portion.

Flat plains and thorny jungles, in the vicinity of the coast.

Open down country, extending over a small portion of the interior.

Open park country, extending over the greater portion of the Veddah
district.

The mountains, forming the centre of the island.

The latter are mostly covered with forest, but they are beautifully
varied by numberless open plains and hills of grass land at an altitude
of from three to nearly nine thousand feet.

If Ceylon were an open country, there would be no large game, as there
would be no shelter from the sun. In the beautiful open down country
throughout the Ouva district there is no game larger than wild hogs,
red-deer, mouse-deer, hares, and partridges. These animals shelter
themselves in the low bushes, which generally consist of the wild
guavas, and occupy the hollows between the undulations of the hills. The
thorny jungles conceal a mass of game of all kinds, but in this retreat
the animals are secure from attack. In the vicinity of the coast, among
the 'flat plains and thorny jungles,' there is always excellent shooting
at particular seasons. The spotted deer abound throughout Ceylon,
especially in these parts, where they are often seen in herds of a
hundred together. In many places they are far too numerous, as, from the
want of inhabitants in these parts, there are no consumers, and these
beautiful beasts would be shot to waste.

In the neighbourhood of Paliar and Illepecadewe, on the north-west
coast, I have shot them till I was satiated and it ceased to be sport.
We had nine fine deer hanging up in one day, and they were putrefying
faster than the few inhabitants could preserve them by smoking and
drying them in steaks. I could have shot them in any number, had I
chosen to kill simply for the sake of murder; but I cannot conceive any
person finding an enjoyment in slaying these splendid deer to rot upon
the ground.

I was once shooting at Illepecadewe, which is a lonely, miserable
spot, when I met with a very sagacious and original sportsman in a most
unexpected manner. I was shooting with a friend, and we had separated
for a few hundred paces. I presently got a shot at a peafowl, and killed
her with my rifle. The shot was no sooner fired than I heard another
shot in the jungle, in the direction taken by my friend. My rifle was
still unloaded when a spotted doe bounded out of the jungle, followed by
a white pariah dog in full chase. Who would have dreamt of meeting with
a dog at this distance from a village (about four miles)? I whistled to
the dog, and to my surprise he came to me, the deer having left him
out of sight in a few seconds. He was a knowing-looking brute, and was
evidently out hunting on his own account. Just at this moment my friend
called to me that he had wounded a buck, and that he had found the
blood-track. I picked a blade of grass from the spot which was tinged
with blood; and holding it to the dog's nose, he eagerly followed me
to the track; upon which I dropped it. He went off in a moment; but,
running mute, I was obliged to follow; and after a chase of a quarter
of a mile I lost sight of him. In following up the foot-track of the
wounded deer I heard the distant barking of the dog, by which I knew
that he had brought the buck to bay, and I was soon at the spot. The
buck had taken up a position in a small glade, and was charging the dog
furiously; but the pariah was too knowing to court the danger, and kept
well out of the way. I shot the buck, and, tying a piece of jungle-rope
to the dog's neck, gave him to a gun-bearer to lead, as I hoped he might
be again useful in hunting up a wounded deer.

I had not proceeded more than half a mile, when we arrived at the edge
of a small sluggish stream, covered in most places with rushes and
water-lilies. We forded this about hip-deep, but the gun-bearer who had
the dog could not prevail upon our mute companion to follow; he pulled
violently back and shrinked, and evinced every symptom of terror at the
approach of water.

I was now at the opposite bank, and nothing would induce him to come
near the river, so I told the gun-bearer to drag him across by force.
This he accordingly did, and the dog swam with frantic exertions across
the river, and managed to disengage his head from the rope. The moment
that he arrived on terra firma he rushed up a steep bank and looked
attentively down into the water beneath.

We now gave him credit for his sagacity in refusing to cross the
dangerous passage. The reeds bowed down to the right and left as a huge
crocodile of about eighteen feet in length moved slowly from his shallow
bed into a deep hole. The dog turned to the right-about, and went off as
fast as his legs would carry him. No calling or whistling would induce
him to return, and I never saw him again. How he knew that a crocodile
was in the stream I cannot imagine. He must have had a narrow escape at
some former time, which was a lesson that he seemed determined to profit
by.

Shortly after the disappearance of the dog, I separated from my
companion and took a different line of country. Large plains, with
thorny jungles and bushes of the long cockspur thorn interspersed,
formed the character of the ground. This place literally swarmed with
peafowl, partridges, and deer. I killed another peacock, and the shot
disturbed a herd of about sixty deer, who bounded over the plain till
out of sight. I tracked up this herd for nearly a mile, when I observed
them behind a large bush; some were lying down and others were standing.
A buck and doe presently quitted the herd, and advancing a few paces
from the bush they halted, and evidently winded me. I was screening
myself behind a small tree, and the open ground between me and the game
precluded the possibility of a nearer approach. It was a random distance
for a deer, but I took a rest against the stem of the tree and fired
at the buck as he stood with his broadside exposed, being shoulder to
shoulder with the doe. Away went the herd, flying over the plain; but,
to my delight, there were two white bellies struggling upon the ground.
I ran up to cut their throats; (*1 This is necessary to allow the blood
to escape, otherwise they would be unfit for food) the two-ounce ball
had passed through the shoulders of both; and I stepped the distance to
the tree from which I had fired, 'two hundred and thirteen paces.'

Shortly after this 1 got another shot which, by a chance, killed two
deer. I was strolling through a narrow glade with open jungles upon
either side, when I suddenly heard a quick double shot, followed by the
rush of a large herd of deer coming through the jungle. I immediately
lay flat upon the ground, and presently an immense herd of full a
hundred deer passed across the glade at full gallop, within seventy
yards of me. Jumping up, I fired at a doe, and, to my surprise, two deer
fell to the shot, one of which was a fawn; the ball had passed through
the shoulder of the mother, and had broken the fawn's neck upon the
opposite side. I am astonished that this chance of killing two at one
shot does not more often happen when the dense body of a herd of deer is
exposed to a rifle-ball.

Deer-stalking is one of the most exciting sports in the world. I have
often crept upon hands and knees for upwards of a quarter of a mile
through mud and grass to get a shot at a fine antlered buck. It
frequently happens that after a long stalk in this manner, when some
sheltering object is reached which you have determined upon for the
shot, just as you raise your head above the grass in expectation of
seeing the game, you find a blank. He has watched your progress by the
nose, although the danger was hidden from his view, and your trouble is
unrewarded.

In all wild shooting, in every country and climate, the 'wind' is the
first consideration. If you hunt down wind you will never get a deer.
You will have occasional glimpses of your game, who will be gazing
intently at you at great distances long before you can see them, but you
will never get a decent shot. The great excitement and pleasure of all
sport consists in a thorough knowledge of the pursuit. When the dew is
heavy upon the ground at break of day, you are strolling noiselessly
along with the rifle, scanning the wide plains and searching the banks
of the pools and streams for foot-marks of the spotted deer. Upon
discovering the tracks their date is immediately known, the vicinity
of the game is surmised, the tracks are followed up, and the herd is at
length discovered. The wind is observed; dry leaves crumbled into powder
and let fall from the hand detect the direction if the slightest air is
stirring, and the approach is made accordingly. Every stone, every bush
or tree or tuft of grass, is noted as a cover for an advance, and
the body being kept in a direct line with each of these objects, you
approach upon hands and knees from each successive place of shelter till
a proper distance is gained. The stalking is the most exciting sport in
the world. I have frequently heard my own heart beat while creeping up
to a deer. He is an animal of wonderful acuteness, and possessing the
keenest scent; he is always on the alert, watching for danger from his
stealthy foe the leopard, who is a perfect deer-stalker.

To kill spotted deer well, if they are tolerably wild, a person must be
a really good rifle shot, otherwise wise he will wound many, but seldom
bag one. They are wonderfully fast, and their bounding pace makes them
extremely difficult to hit while running. Even when standing they must
be struck either through the head, neck, or shoulder, or they will
rarely be killed on the spot; in any other part, if wounded, they will
escape as though untouched, and die a miserable death in solitude.

In narrating long shots that I have made, I recount them as bright
moments in the hours of sport; they are the exceptions and not the rule.
I consider a man a first-rate shot who can ALWAYS bag his deer standing
at eighty yards, or running at fifty. HITTING and BAGGING are widely
different. If a man can always bag at the distance that I have named
he will constantly hit, and frequently bag, at extraordinary ranges,
as there is no doubt of his shooting, and, when he misses, the ball has
whizzed somewhere very close to the object; the chances are, therefore,
in favour of the rifle.

The deer differ in character in various parts of Ceylon. In some places
where they are rarely disturbed they can be approached to within thirty
or forty paces, in which case a very moderate shot can easily kill
them; but it is better sport when they are moderately wild. The greatest
number of deer that I ever saw was in the south-eastern part of Ceylon,
in the neighbourhood of Pontane and Yalle. The whole of this country is
almost uninhabited, and accordingly undisturbed. Yalle is the nearest
town of importance, from which a good road, lined on either side with
cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees, extends as far as Tangalle, fifty
miles. A few miles beyond this village the wild country begins, and
Hambantotte is the next station, nearly ninety miles from Yalle. The
country around Hambantotte is absolutely frightful-wide extending plains
of white sand and low scrubby bushes scattered here and there;
salt lakes of great extent, and miserable plains of scanty herbage,
surrounded by dense thorny jungles. Notwithstanding this, at some
seasons the whole district is alive with game. January and February are
the best months for elephants and buffaloes, and August and September
are the best seasons for deer, at which time the whole country is burnt
up with drought, and the game is forced to the vicinity of Yalle river
and the neighbouring pools. In the wet season this district is nearly
flooded, and forms a succession of deep marshes, the malaria from
which is extremely unhealthy. At this time the grass is high, and the
elephants are very numerous.

When I was in this part of the country the drought was excessive; the
jungle was parched, and the leaves dropped from the bushes under the
influence of a burning sun. Not a cloud ever appeared upon the sky, but
a dazzling haze of intense heat spread over the scorched plains. The
smaller streams were completely dried up, and the large rivers were
reduced to rivulets in the midst of a bed of sand.

The whole of this country is a succession of flat sandy plains and low
jungles contiguous to the sea-coast. The intense heat and the glare of
the sun rendered the journey most fatiguing. I at length descried a long
line of noble forest in the distance, and this I conjectured to be near
the river, which turned out to be the case; we were soon relieved from
the burning sun by the shade of as splendid a forest as I have ever
seen. A few hundred yards from the spot at which we had entered, Yalle
river rolled along in a clear stream. In the wet season this is a rapid
torrent of about 150 yards in width, but at this time the bed of the
river was dry, with the exception of a stream of about thirty paces
broad, which ran directly beneath the bank we were descending.

An unexpected scene now presented itself. The wide bed of the river
was shaded on either side by groves of immense trees, whose branches
stretched far over the channel; and not only beneath their shade, but
in every direction, tents formed of talipot leaves were pitched, and
a thousand men, women, and children lay grouped together; some were
bathing in the river, some were sitting round their fires cooking a
scanty meal, others lay asleep upon the sand, but all appeared to be
congregated together for one purpose; and so various were the castes
and costumes that every nation of the East seemed to have sent a
representative. This was the season for the annual offerings to the
Kattregam god, to whose temple these pilgrims were flocking, and they
had made the dry bed of Valle river their temporary halting-place. A few
days after, no less than 18,000 pilgrims congregated at Kattregam.

I was at this time shooting with my friend, Mr. H. Walters, then of the
15th Regiment. We waded up the bed of the river for about a mile, and
then pitched the tent under some fine trees in the open forest. Several
wild buffaloes were drinking in the river within a short distance of
us; but thinking this a likely spot for elephants, we determined not to
disturb the neighbourhood by firing a shot until we had first explored
the country. After a walk of a couple of hours through fine open forest
and small bushy plains, we came to the conclusion that there were very
few elephants in the country, and we devoted ourselves to other game.

After a day or two spent in killing deer, a few wild buffaloes, and only
one elephant, I felt convinced that we should never find the latter, in
the dry state of the country, unless by watching at some tank at night.
We therefore moved our encampment inland about twenty-five miles from
Yalle. Here there is a large tank, which I concluded would be the resort
of elephants.

A long day's journey through a burning sun brought us to Sitrawelle.
This is a small village, about six miles inward from the sea-coast
village of Kesinde. Here the natives brought us plantains and buffalo
milk, while we took shelter from the sun under a splendid tamarind tree.
Opposite to this was a 'bo'-tree; *(very similar to the banian-tree)
this grew to an extraordinary size; the wide spreading branches covered
about half an acre of ground, and the trunk measured upwards of forty
feet in circumference. The tamarind-tree was nearly the same size; and
I never saw together two such magnificent specimens of vegetation. A
few paces from this spot, a lake of about four miles' circuit lay in the
centre of a plain; this was surrounded by open forests and jungles, all
of which looked like good covers for game. Skirting the opposite banks
of the lake, we pitched the tent under some shady trees upon a fine
level sward. By this time it was nearly dusk, and I had barely time to
stroll out and kill a peacock for dinner before night set in.

The next morning, having been joined by my friend, Mr. P. Braybrook,
then government agent of this district, our party was increased to
three, and seeing no traces of elephants in this neighbourhood, we
determined to proceed to a place called Wihare-welle, about six miles
farther inland.

Our route now lay along a broad causeway of solid masonry. On either
side of this road, stone pillars of about twelve feet in height stood in
broken, rows, and lay scattered in every direction through the jungle.
Ruined dagobas and temples jutted their rugged summits above the
tree-tops, and many lines of stone columns stood in parallel rows,
the ancient supports of buildings of a similar character to those
of Pollanarua and Anarajahpoora. We were among the ruins of ancient
Mahagam. One of the ruined buildings had apparently rested upon
seventy-two pillars. These were still erect, standing in six lines of
twelve columns; every stone appeared to be about fourteen feet high by
two feet square and twenty-five feet apart. This building must therefore
have formed an oblong of 300 feet by 150. Many of the granite blocks
were covered with rough carving; large flights of steps, now irregular
from the inequality of the ground, were scattered here and there; and
the general appearance of the ruins was similar to that of Pollanarua,
but of smaller extent. The stone causeway which passed through the ruins
was about two miles in length, being for the most part overgrown with
low jungle and prickly cactus. I traversed the jungle for some distance
until arrested by the impervious nature of the bushes; but wherever I
went, the ground was stewed with squared stones and fallen brickwork
overgrown with rank vegetation.

The records of Ceylon do not afford any satisfactory information
concerning the original foundation of this city. The first time that we
hear of it is in the year 286 B.C.; but we have no account of the era
or cause of its desertion. Although Mahagam is the only vestige of
an ancient city in this district, there are many ruined buildings and
isolated dagobas of great antiquity scattered throughout the country. I
observed on a peak of one of the Kattregam hills large masses of fallen
brickwork, the ruins of some former buildings, probably coeval with
Mahagam. The whole of this district, now so wild and desolate, must in
those days have been thickly populated and highly cultivated, although,
from the present appearance of the country, it does not seem possible
that it has ever altered its aspect since the Creation.

Descending a steep bank shaded by large trees, we crossed the bed of
the Manick Ganga ('Jewel River'). The sand was composed of a mixture of
mica, quartz, sapphire, ruby, and jacinth, but the large proportion
of ruby sand was so extraordinary that it seemed to rival Sindbad
the Sailor's vale of gems. The whole of this was valueless, but the
appearance of the sand was very inviting, as the shallow stream in
rippling over it magnified the tiny gems into stones of some magnitude.
I passed an hour in vainly searching for a ruby worth collecting, but
the largest did not exceed the size of mustard seed.

The natives use this sand for cutting elephants' teeth, in the same
manner that a stonemason uses sand to assist him in sawing through a
stone. Elephants' teeth or grinders are so hard that they will produce
sparks upon being struck with a hatchet.

About two miles from the opposite bank of the river, having journeyed
through a narrow path bordered upon either side by thick jungle, we
opened upon an extensive plain close to the village of Wihare-welle.
This plain was covered with wild indigo, and abounded with peafowl.
Passing through the small village at the extremity of the plain, we
pitched the tent upon the borders of the lake, about a quarter of a mile
beyond it. This tank was about three miles in circumference, and, like
that of Sitrawelle, was one of the ancient works of the Mahagam princes.

The village was almost deserted; none but the old men and women and
children remained, as the able-bodied men had gone to the Kattregam
festival. We could, therefore, obtain no satisfactory information
regarding elephants; but I was convinced, from the high grass around the
lake, that if any elephants were in the district some would be here. It
was late in the evening, the coolies were heaping up the night-fires,
and as darkness closed upon us, the savoury steam of a peacock that was
roasting on a stick betokened the welcome approach of dinner. We had
already commenced, when the roaring of elephants within a short distance
of the tent gave us hope of sport on the following day.

At daybreak the next morning I strolled round the lake to look for
tracks. A herd of about seven had been feeding during the night within
half a mile of the tent. During my walk I saw innumerable pea-fowl,
jungle-fowl, hares and ducks, in addition to several herds of deer; but
not wishing to disturb the country, I did not fire, but returned to the
tent and sent out trackers.

In the afternoon the natives returned with intelligence of a small pool
two miles from the opposite shore of the lake, situated in dense jungle;
here they had seen fresh elephant tracks, and they proposed that we
should watch the pool that evening at the usual drinking hour of the
game. As this was the only pool of water for miles round with the
exception of the lake, I thought the plan likely to succeed, and we
therefore started without loss of time.

On arrival at the pool we took a short survey of our quarters. A small
round sheet of water of perhaps eighty yards in diameter lay in the
midst of a dense jungle. Several large trees were growing close to
the edge, and around these lay numerous rocks of about four feet high,
forming a capital place for concealment. Covering the tops of the
rocks with boughs to conceal our heads, we lay quietly behind them in
expectation of the approaching game.

The sun sank, and the moon rose in great beauty, throwing a silvery
light upon the surface of the water chequered by the dark shadows of the
surrounding trees. Suddenly the hoarse bark of an elk sounded within a
short distance, and I could distinguish two or three dark forms on the
opposite bank. The shrill and continual barking of spotted deer now
approaching nearer and nearer, the rustling in the jungle, and the
splashing in the water announced continual arrivals of game to the
lonely drinking-place. Notwithstanding the immense quantity of animals
that were congregated together, we could not distinguish them plainly on
account of the dark background of jungle. Elk, deer, buffaloes, and
hogs were all bathing and drinking in immense numbers, but there were no
elephants.

For some hours we watched the accumulation of game; there was not a
breath of air, although the scud was flying fast above us, occasionally
throwing a veil over the moon and casting a sudden obscurity on the dim
scene before us. Our gun-bearers were crouched around us; their dark
skins matching with the ground on which they squatted, they looked like
so many stumps of trees. It was nearly ten o'clock, and my eyes ached
with watching; several times I found myself nodding as sleep took me
by surprise; so, leaving a man to look out, we sat quietly down and
discussed a cold fowl that we had brought with us.

We had just finished a pint bottle of cherry brandy when I felt a gentle
touch upon my shoulder, and our look-out man whispered in my ear the
magic word 'alia' (elephant), at the same time pointing in the direction
of the tank. The guns were all wrapped up in a blanket to keep them from
the dew, so telling W. to uncover them and to distribute them to the
respective gun-bearers without noise, I crept out and stole unperceived
along the margin of the tank to discover the number and position of the
elephants. So deceitful was the moonlight, being interrupted by the
dark shadows of the jungle, that I was within ten paces of the nearest
elephant before I distinguished her. I counted three--one large and two
others about six feet high. Being satisfied with my information, and
having ascertained that no others were in the jungle, I returned to my
companions; they were all ready, and we crept forward. We were within
ten paces of the large elephant, when a branch of hooked thorn caught
W. by the clothes; the noise that he made in extricating himself
immediately attracted the attention of the elephant, and she turned
quickly round, receiving at the same moment an ineffectual shot from W.;
B. at the same time fired without effect at one of the small elephants.
The mother, hearing a roar from the small elephant that B. had wounded,
immediately rushed up to it, and they stood side by side in the water
about fifteen yards from the bank. The large elephant now cocked her
ears and turned her head from side to side with great quickness to
discover an enemy. I ran close to the water's edge, and the mother
perceiving me immediately came forward. I could hardly distinguish the
sights of my rifle, and I was, therefore, obliged to wait till she was
within four or five paces before I fired. She gave me a good shot,
and dropped dead. The young one was rushing about and roaring in a
tremendous manner, having again been fired at and wounded by B. and W.
By this time I had got a spare gun, and, wading into the tank, I soon
came to such close quarters that I could not miss, and one shot killed
him. The other small elephant escaped unseen in the confusion caused by
the firing.

The following evening we again watched the pool, and once more a mother
and her young one came to drink. W. and B. extinguished the young one
while I killed the mother.

This watching by moonlight is a kind of sport that I do not admire; it
is a sort of midnight murder, and many a poor brute who comes to the
silent pool to cool his parched tongue, finds only a cup of bitterness,
and retires again to his jungle haunts to die a lingering death from
some unskilful wound. The best shot must frequently miss by moonlight;
there is a silvery glare which renders all objects indistinct, and
the shot very doubtful; thus two animals out of three fired at will
generally escape wounded.

I was tired of watching by night, and I again returned to the
neighbourhood of Yalle. After a long ride through a burning sun, I went
down to the river to bathe. The water was not more than three feet deep,
and was so clear that every pebble was plainly distinguishable at the
bottom.

I had waded hip-deep into the river when my servant, who was on the
bank, suddenly cried out, 'Sar! sar! come back, sar! Mora! mora!' and he
pointed to some object a little higher up the stream. It was now within
ten or twelve yards of me, and I fancied that it was a piece of drift
timber, but I lost no time in reaching the shore. Slowly the object
sailed along with the stream, but as it neared me, to my astonishment,
a large black fin protruded from the water, and the mystery was at once
cleared up. It was a large SHARK about nine feet long.

In some places the water was so shallow that his tail and a portion of
his back were now and then above the surface. He was in search of grey
mullet, with which fish the river abounded; and at this season sharks
were very numerous, as they followed the shoals for some distance up the
river. My servant had been in a great state of alarm, as he thought his
master would have been devoured in a few seconds; but the natives of
the village quietly told me not to be afraid, but to bathe in peace, 'as
sharks would not eat men at this season.' I was not disposed to put
his epicurean scruples to the test; as some persons may kill a pheasant
before the first of October, so he might have made a grab at me a little
before the season, which would have been equally disagreeable to my
feelings. The novelty of a white skin in that clear river might have
proved too strong a temptation for a shark to withstand.

I never saw game in such masses as had now collected in this
neighbourhood. The heat was intense, and the noble forest in the
vicinity of Yalle river offered an asylum to all animals beneath its
shade, where good water and fine grass upon the river's bank supplied
their wants. In this forest there was little or no underwood; the trees
grew to an immense size and stood far apart, so that a clear range might
be obtained for a hundred yards. It was, therefore, a perfect spot for
deer-stalking; the tops of trees formed an impervious screen to the
sun's rays; and I passed several days in wandering with my rifle through
these shady solitudes, killing an immense quantity of game. The deer
were in such masses that I restricted myself to bucks, and I at length
became completely satiated. There was too much game; during the whole
day's walk I was certainly not FIVE MINUTES without seeing either deer,
elk, buffaloes, or hogs. The noise of the rifle did not appear to scare
them from the forest; they would simply retreat for a time to some other
portion of it, and fresh herds were met with in following up one which
had been disturbed. Still, there were no elephants. Although I had
upwards of fifty coolies and servants, they could not dry the venison
sufficiently fast to prevent the deer from stinking as they were killed,
and I resolved to leave the country.

I gave orders for everything to be packed up in readiness for a start,
after an early breakfast, on the following morning. The servants
were engaged in arranging for the departure, when a native brought
intelligence of a rogue elephant within four miles of the tent. It was
late in the afternoon, but I had not seen an elephant for so long that
I was determined to make his acquaintance. My friend B. accompanied me,
and we immediately started on horseback.

Our route lay across very extensive plains, interspersed with low thorny
bushes and wide salt lakes. Innumerable wild hogs invited us to a chase.
There could not be a better spot for boar-spearing, as the ground
is level and clear for riding. There were numerous herds of deer and
buffaloes, but we did not fire a shot, as we had determined upon an
interview with the rogue. We traversed about four miles of this style
of country, and were crossing a small plain, when our guide suddenly
stopped and pointed to the elephant, who was about a quarter of a mile
distant. He was standing on a little glade of about fifty yards across;
this was surrounded upon all sides but one with dense thorny jungle,
and he therefore stood in a small bay of open ground. It was a difficult
position for an attack. The wind blew directly from us to him, therefore
an advance in that direction was out of the question; on the other hand,
if we made a circuit so as to get the wind, we should have to penetrate
through the thorny jungle to arrive at him, and we should then have
the five o'clock sun directly in our eyes. However, there was no
alternative, and, after a little consultation, the latter plan was
resolved upon.

Dismounting, we ordered the horse-keepers to conceal the horses and
themselves behind a thick bush, lest the elephant should observe them,
and with this precaution we advanced, making a circuit of nearly a mile
to obtain the wind. On arrival at the belt of thick jungle which divided
us from the small glade upon which he stood, I perceived, as I had
expected, that the sun was full in our eyes. This was a disadvantage
which I felt convinced would lose us the elephant, unless some
extraordinary chance intervened; however, we entered the thick jungle
before us, and cautiously pushed our way through it. This belt was not
more than fifty yards in width, and we soon broke upon the small glade.

The elephant was standing with his back towards us, at about forty
paces distant, close to the thick jungle by his side; and, taking my
four-ounce rifle, I walked quietly but quickly towards him. Without
a moment's warning he flung his trunk straight up, and, turning sharp
round, he at once charged into us. The sun shone full in my eyes, so
that I could do nothing but fire somewhere at his head. He fell, but
immediately recovered himself, and before the smoke had cleared away
he was in full retreat through the thorny jungle, the heavy ball having
taken all the pluck out of him. This was just as I had expected; pursuit
in such a jungle was impossible, and I was perfectly contented with
having turned him.

The next morning, having made all arrangements for starting
homewards, after breakfast I took my rifle and one gun-bearer with a
double-barrelled gun to enjoy one last stroll in the forest. It was just
break of day. My first course was towards the river which flowed through
it, as I expected to find the game near the water, an hour before
sunrise being their time for drinking. I had not proceeded far before
immense herds of deer offered tempting shots; but I was out simply in
search of large antlers, and none appearing of sufficient size, I would
not fire. Buffaloes continually presented themselves: I was tired of
shooting these brutes, but I killed two who looked rather vicious; and I
amused myself with remarking the immense quantity of game, and imagining
the number of heads that I could bag had I chosen to indulge in
indiscriminate slaughter. At length I noticed a splendid buck lying
on the sandy bed of the river, beneath a large tree; his antlers were
beautiful, and I stalked him to within sixty yards and shot him. I
had not been reloaded ten minutes, and was walking quietly through the
forest, when I saw a fine antlered buck standing within thirty yards of
me in a small patch of underwood. His head was turned towards me, and
his nostrils were distended in alarm as he prepared to bound off. I had
just time to cock my rifle as he dashed off at full speed; but it was a
murderous distance, and he fell dead. His antlers matched exactly with
those I had last shot.

I turned towards the direction of the tent, and, descending to the bed
of the river, I followed the course of the stream upon the margin of
dry sand. I had proceeded about half a mile, when I noticed at about 150
paces some object moving about the trunk of a large fallen tree which
lay across the bed of the river. This stem was about five feet in
diameter, and I presently distinguished the antlers and then the head
of a large buck, as they appeared above it; he had been drinking in the
stream on the opposite side, and he now raised his head, sniffing the
fresh breeze. It was a tempting shot, and taking a very steady aim I
fired. For a moment he was down, but recovering himself he bounded up
the bank, and was soon in full speed through the forest with only
one antler upon his head. I picked up the fellow-antler, which the
rifle-ball had cut off within an inch of his skull. This was a narrow
escape.

I did not reload my rifle, as I was not far from the tent, and I
was tired of shooting. Giving my rifle to the gun-bearer, I took the
double-barrelled gun which he carried, and walked quickly towards
breakfast. Suddenly I heard a crash in a small nook of thick bushes,
like the rush of an elephant, and the next instant a buck came rushing
by in full speed; his long antlers lay upon his back as he flew through
the tangled saplings with a force that seemed to defy resistance. He
was the largest spotted buck that I ever saw, and, being within thirty
paces, I took a flying shot with the right-hand barrel. He faltered
for a moment, and I immediately fired the remaining barrel. Still he
continued his course, but at a reduced speed and dead lame. Loading the
rifle, I soon got upon the blood-track, and I determined to hunt him
down.

There were many saplings in this part of the forest, and I noticed that
many of them in the deer's track were besmeared with blood about two
feet and a half from the ground. The tracks in the sandy soil were
uneven--one of the fore-feet showed a deep impression, while the other
was very faint, showing that he was wounded in the leg, as his whole
weight was thrown upon one foot. Slowly and cautiously I stalked along
the track, occasionally lying down to look under the bushes. For about
an hour I continued this slow and silent chase; the tracks became
fainter, and the bleeding appeared to have almost ceased; so few and
far between were the red drops upon the ground, that I was constantly
obliged to leave the gun-bearer upon the last trace, while I made a cast
to discover the next track. I was at length in despair of finding him,
and I was attentively scrutinising the ground for a trace of blood,
which would distinguish his track from those of other deer with which
the ground was covered, when I suddenly heard a rush in the underwood,
and away bounded the buck at about fifty yards' distance, apparently
as fresh as ever. The next instant he was gasping on the ground, the
rifle-ball having passed exactly through his heart. I never could have
believed that a spotted buck would have attained so large a size; he was
as large as a doe elk, and his antlers were the finest I have ever seen
of that species. It required eight men with two cross poles to bring him
home.

I reached the tent to breakfast at eight o'clock, having bagged three
fine bucks and two buffaloes that morning; and being, for the time,
satiated with sport, I quitted Ceylon.



CHAPTER VIII.

Beat-hounds for Elk-hunting--Smut--Killbuck--The Horton Plains--A Second
Soyer--The Find--The Buck at Bay--The Bay--The Death--Return of Lost
Dogs--Comparative Speed of Deer--Veddah Ripped by a Boar--A Melee--Buck
at Black Pool--Old Smut's Ruse--Margosse Oil.

The foregoing description of sporting incidents closed my first visit to
Ceylon. I had arrived in the island to make a tour of the country and
to enjoy its sports; this I had accomplished by a residence of twelve
months, the whole of which had been occupied in wandering from place to
place. I now returned to England; but the Fates had traced ANOTHER road
for me, and after a short stay in the old country I again started for
Ceylon, and became a resident at Newera Ellia.

Making use of the experience that I had gained in wild sports, I came
out well armed, according to my own ideas of weapons for the chase. I
had ordered four double-barrelled rifles of No. 10 bore to be made to my
own pattern; my hunting-knives and boarspear heads I had made to my own
design by Paget of Piccadilly, who turned out the perfection of steel;
and I arrived in Ceylon with a pack of fine foxhounds and a favourite
greyhound of wonderful speed and strength, 'Bran,' who, though full of
years, is still alive.

The usual drawbacks and discomforts attendant upon a new settlement
having been overcome, Newera Ellia forms a delightful place of
residence. I soon discovered that a pack of thoroughbred foxhounds were
not adapted to a country so enclosed by forest; some of the hounds were
lost, others I parted with, but they are all long since dead, and
their progeny, the offspring of crosses with pointers, bloodhounds and
half-bred foxhounds, have turned out the right stamp for elk-hunting.

It is a difficult thing to form a pack for this sport which shall be
perfect in all respects. Sometimes a splendid hound in character may
be more like a butcher's dog than a hound in appearance, but the pack
cannot afford to part with him if he is really good.

The casualties from leopards, boars, elk and lost dogs are so great that
the pack is with difficulty kept up by breeding. It must be remembered
that the place of a lost dog cannot be easily supplied in Ceylon. Newera
Ellia is one of the rare climates in Ceylon which is suited to the
constitution of a dog. In the low and hot climates they lead a short
and miserable life, which is soon ended by a liver complaint; thus if
a supply for the pack cannot be kept up by breeding, hounds must be
procured from England at a great expense and risk.

The pack now in the kennel is as near perfection as can be attained for
elk-hunting, comprising ten couple, most of whom are nearly thoroughbred
fox-hounds, with a few couple of immense seizers, a cross between
bloodhound and greyhound, and a couple of large wire-haired lurchers,
like the Scotch deer-hound.

In describing the sport, I must be permitted to call up the spirits of a
few heroes, who are now dead, and place them in the vacant places which
they formerly occupied in the pack.

The first who answers to the magic call is 'Smut,' hero of at least
400 deaths of elk and boar. He appears the same well-remembered form of
strength, the sullen growl which greeted even his master, the numerous
scars and seams upon his body; behold old Smut! His sire was a Manilla
blood-hound, which accounted for the extreme ferocity of the son. His
courage was indomitable. He was a large dog, but not high, considering
his great length, but his limbs were immense in proportion. His height
at the shoulder was 26 1/2 inches; his girth of brisket 34 inches. In
his younger days he always opened upon a scent, and the rocky mountains
and deep valleys have often echoed back his deep notes which have now,
like himself, passed away. As he grew older he became cunning, and he
ran entirely mute, knowing well that the more noise the elk heard behind
him the faster he would run. I have frequently known him to be out by
himself all night, and return the next morning blown out with food which
he had procured for himself by pulling down a doe single-handed. When he
was a young dog, and gave tongue upon a scent, a challenge was offered,
but never accepted, that the dog should find, hunt, and pull down
two buck elk, single-handed, within a fortnight, assisted only by his
master, with no other weapon than a hunting-knife; there is no doubt
whatever that he would have performed it easily. He then belonged to
Lieutenant Pardoe, of the 15th Regiment.

He had several pitched battles with leopards, from which he has returned
frightfully torn, but with his yellow hair bristled up, his head and
stern erect; and his deep growl, with which he gave a dubious reception
to both man and beast, was on these occasions doubly threatening.

I never knew a dog that combined superlative valour with discretion
in the degree exhibited by Smut. I have seen many dogs who would rush
heedlessly upon a boar's tusks to certain destruction; but Smut would
never seize until the proper time arrived, and when the opportunity
offered he never lost it. This rendered him of great value in these wild
sports, where the dog and his master are mutually dependent upon each
other. There was nothing to fear if Smut was there; whether boar or buck
you might advance fearlessly to him with the knife, with the confidence
that the dog would pin the animal the instant that it turned to attack
you; and when he once obtained his hold he was seldom shaken off until
in his old age, when he lost his teeth. Even then he was always one of
the first to seize. Although comparatively useless, the spirit was ever
willing; and this courage, poor fellow, at length caused his death.

The next dog who claims a tribute to his memory is 'Killbuck.' He was an
Australian greyhound of the most extraordinary courage. He stood at the
shoulder 28 inches high; girth of brisket, 31 inches.

Instead of the surly and ferocious disposition of Smut, he was the most
gentle and affectionate creature. It was a splendid sight to witness the
bounding spring of Killbuck as he pinned an elk at bay that no other
dog could touch. He had a peculiar knack of seizing that I never saw
equalled; no matter where or in what position an elk might be, he was
sure to have him. When once started from the slips it was certain death
to the animal he coursed, and even when out of view, and the elk had
taken to the jungle, I have seen the dog, with his nose to the ground,
following upon the scent at full speed like a foxhound. I never heard
him bark at game when at bay. With a bulldog courage he would recklessly
fly straight at the animal's head, unheeding the wounds received in the
struggle. This unguided courage at length caused his death when in the
very prime of his life. Poor Killbuck! His was a short but glorious
career, and his name will never be forgotten.

Next in rotation in the chronicles of seizers appears 'Lena,' who is
still alive, an Australian bitch of great size, courage, and beauty,
wire-haired, like a Scotch deerhound.

'Bran,' a perfect model of a greyhound.

'Lucifer,' combining the beauty, speed, and courage of his parents,
'Bran' and ' Lena,' in a superlative degree.

There are many others that I could call from the pack and introduce
as first-rate hounds, but as no jealousy will be occasioned by their
omission, I shall be contented with those already named.

Were I to recount the twentieth part of the scenes that I have witnessed
in this sport, it would fill a volume, and become very tedious. A few
instances related will at once explain the whole character of the sport,
and introduce a stranger to the wild hunts of the Ceylon mountains.

I have already described Newera Ellia, with its alternate plains and
forests, its rapid streams and cataracts, its mountains, valleys, and
precipices; but a portion of this country, called the Horton Plains,
will need a further description.

Some years ago I hunted with a brother Nimrod, Lieutenant de Montenach,
of the 15th Regiment, in this country; and in two months we killed
forty-three elk.

The Horton Plains are about twenty miles from Newera Ellia. After a walk
of sixteen miles through alternate plains and forests, the steep ascent
of Totapella mountain is commenced by a rugged path through jungle the
whole way. So steep is the track that a horse ascends with difficulty,
and riding is of course impossible. After a mile and a quarter of almost
perpendicular scrambling, the summit of the pass is reached, commanding
a splendid view of the surrounding country, and Newera Ellia can be seen
far beneath in the distance. Two miles farther on, after a walk through
undulating forest, the Horton Plains burst suddenly upon the view as
you emerge from the jungle path. These plains are nearly 800 feet higher
than Newera Ellia, or 7,000 feet above the sea. The whole aspect of
the country appears at once to have assumed a new character; there is a
feeling of being on the top of everything, and instead of a valley among
surrounding hills, which is the feature of Newera Ellia and the adjacent
plains, a beautiful expanse of flat table-land stretches before the eye,
bounded by a few insignificant hill-tops. There is a peculiar freedom in
the Horton Plains, an absence from everywhere, a wildness in the thought
that there is no tame animal within many miles, not a village, nor hut,
nor human being. It makes a man feel in reality one of the 'lords of the
creation' when he first stands upon this elevated plain, and, breathing
the pure thin air, he takes a survey of his hunting-ground: no
boundaries but mountain tops and the horizon; no fences but the trunks
of decayed trees fallen from old age; no game laws but strong legs, good
wind, and the hunting-knife; no paths but those trodden by the elk and
elephant. Every nook and corner of this wild country is as familiar to
me as my own garden. There is not a valley that has not seen a burst
in full cry; not a plain that has not seen the greyhounds in full speed
after an elk; and not a deep pool in the river that has not echoed with
a bay that has made the rocks ring again.

To give a person an interest in the sport, the country must be described
minutely. The plain already mentioned as the flat table-land first seen
on arrival, is about five miles in length, and two in breadth in the
widest part. This is tolerably level, with a few gentle undulations, and
is surrounded, on all sides but one, with low, forest-covered slopes.
The low portions of the plains are swamps, from which springs a large
river, the source of the Mahawelli Ganga.

From the plain now described about fifteen others diverge, each
springing from the parent plain, and increasing in extent as they
proceed; these are connected more or less by narrow valleys, and deep
ravines. Through the greater portion of these plains, the river winds
its wild course. In the first a mere brook, it rapidly increases as it
traverses the lower portions of every valley, until it attains a width
of twenty or thirty yards, within a mile of the spot where it is first
discernible as a stream. Every plain in succession being lower than the
first, the course of the river is extremely irregular; now a maze
of tortuous winding, then a broad, still stream, bounded by grassy
undulations; now rushing wildly through a hundred channels formed by
obtruding rocks, then in a still, deep pool, gathering itself together
for a mad leap over a yawning precipice, and roaring at a hundred feet
beneath, it settles in the lower plain in a pool of unknown depth; and
once more it murmurs through another valley.

In the large pools formed by the sudden turns in the river, the elk
generally takes his last determined stand, and he sometimes keeps dogs
and men at bay for a couple of hours. These pools are generally about
sixty yards across, very deep in some parts, with a large shallow
sandbank in the centre, formed by the eddy of the river.

We built a hunting bivouac in a snug corner of the plains, which gloried
in the name of 'Elk Lodge.' This famous hermitage was a substantial
building, and afforded excellent accommodation: a verandah in the front,
twenty-eight feet by eight; a dining-room twenty feet by twelve, with
a fireplace eight feet wide; and two bed-rooms of twenty feet by eight.
Deer-hides were pegged down to form a carpet upon the floors, and the
walls were neatly covered with talipot leaves. The outhouses consisted
of the kennel, stables for three horses, kitchen, and sheds for twenty
coolies and servants.

The fireplace was a rough piece of art, upon which we prided ourselves
extremely. A party of eight persons could have sat before it with
comfort. Many a roaring fire has blazed up that rude chimney; and dinner
being over, the little round table before the hearth has steamed forth a
fragrant attraction, when the nightly bowl of mulled port has taken its
accustomed stand. I have spent many happy hours in this said spot; the
evenings were of a decidedly social character. The day's hunting over,
it was a delightful hour at about seven P.M.--dinner just concluded, the
chairs brought before the fire, cigars and the said mulled port. Eight
o'clock was the hour for bed, and five in the morning to rise, at which
time a cup of hot tea, and a slice of toast and anchovy paste were
always ready before the start. The great man of our establishment was
the cook.

This knight of the gridiron was a famous fellow, and could perform
wonders; of stoical countenance, he was never seen to smile. His whole
thoughts were concentrated in the mysteries of gravies, and the magic
transformation of one animal into another by the art of cookery; in this
he excelled to a marvellous degree. The farce of ordering dinner was
always absurd. It was something in this style: 'Cook!' (Cook answers)
'Coming, sar!' (enter cook): 'Now, cook, you make a good dinner; do
you hear?' Cook: 'Yes, sar; master tell, I make.'--'Well, mulligatawny
soup.' 'Yes, sar.'--'Calves' head with tongue and brain sauce.'
'Yes, sar.'--' Gravy omelette.' 'Yes, sar.'--'Mutton chops.'
'Yes, sar.'--'Fowl cotelets.' 'Yes, sar.'--'Beefsteaks.' 'Yes,
sar.'--'Marrow-bones.' 'Yes, sar.'--'Rissoles.' 'Yes, sar.' All these
various dishes he literally imitated uncommonly well, the different
portions of an elk being their only foundation.

The kennel bench was comfortably littered, and the pack took possession
of their new abode with the usual amount of growling and quarrelling for
places; the angry grumbling continuing throughout the night between the
three champions of the kennel--Smut, Bran, and Killbuck. After a night
much disturbed by this constant quarrelling, we unkennelled the hounds
just as the first grey streak of dawn spread above Totapella Peak.

The mist was hanging heavily on the lower parts of the plain like a
thick snowbank, although the sky was beautifully clear above, in which
a few pale stars still glimmered. Long lines of fog were slowly drifting
along the bottoms of the valleys, dispelled by a light breeze, and day
fast advancing bid fair for sport; a heavy dew lay upon the grass, and
we stood for some moments in uncertainty as to the first point of our
extensive hunting-grounds that we should beat. There were fresh tracks
of elk close to our 'lodge,' who had been surveying our new settlement
during the night. Crossing the river by wading waist-deep, we skirted
along the banks, winding through a narrow valley with grassy hills
capped with forest upon either side. Our object in doing this was to
seek for marks where the elk had come down to drink during the night, as
we knew that the tracks would then lead to the jungle upon either side
the river. We had strolled quietly along for about half a mile, when the
loud bark of an elk was suddenly heard in the jungle upon the opposite
hills. In a moment the hounds dashed across the river towards the
well-known sound, and entered the jungle at full speed. Judging the
direction which the elk would most probably take when found, I ran along
the bank of the river, down stream, for a quarter of a mile, towards a
jungle through which the river flowed previous to its descent into the
lower plains, and I waited, upon a steep grassy hill, about a hundred
feet above the river's bed. From this spot I had a fine view of the
ground. Immediately before me, rose the hill from which the elk had
barked; beneath my feet, the river stretched into a wide pool on its
entrance to the jungle. This jungle clothed the precipitous cliffs of
a deep ravine, down which the river fell in two cataracts; these were
concealed from view by the forest. I waited in breathless expectation of
'the find.' A few minutes passed, when the sudden burst of the pack in
full cry came sweeping down upon the light breeze; loudly the cheering
sound swelled as they topped the hill, and again it died away as they
crossed some deep ravine. In a few minutes the cry became very distant;
as the elk was evidently making straight up the hills; once or twice I
feared he would cross them, and make away for a different part of the
country. The cry of the pack was so indistinct that my ear could barely
catch it, when suddenly a gust of wind from that direction brought down
a chorus of voices that there was no mistaking: louder and louder the
music became; the elk had turned, and was coming down the hill-side at
a slapping pace. The jungle crashed as he came rushing through the
yielding branches. Out he came, breaking cover in fine style, and away
he dashed over the open country. He was a noble buck, and had got a
long start; not a single hound had yet appeared, but I heard them
coming through the jungle in full cry. Down the side of the hill he came
straight to the pool beneath my feet. Yoick to him! Hark forward to him!
and I gave a view halloa till my lungs had well-nigh cracked. I had lost
sight of him, as he had taken to water in the pool within the jungle.

One more halloa! and out came the gallant old fellow Smut from the
jungle, on the exact line that the elk had taken. On he came, bounding
along the rough side of the hill like a lion, followed by only two
dogs--Dan, a pointer (since killed by a leopard), and Cato, a young dog
who had never yet seen an elk. The remainder of the pack had taken
after a doe that had crossed the scent, and they were now running in
a different direction. I now imagined that the elk had gone down the
ravine to the lower plains by some run that might exist along the edge
of the cliff, and accordingly I started off along a deer-path through
the jungle, to arrive at the lower plains by the shortest road that I
could make.

Hardly had I run a hundred yards, when I heard the ringing of the bay
and the deep voice of Smut, mingled with the roar of the waterfall, to
which I had been running parallel. Instantly changing my course, I was
in a few moments on the bank of the river just above the fall. There
stood the buck at bay in a large pool about three feet deep, where the
dogs could only advance by swimming. Upon my jumping into the pool, he
broke his bay, and, dashing through the dogs, he appeared to leap over
the verge of the cataract, but in reality he took to a deer-path
which skirted the steep side of the wooded precipice. So steep was the
inclination that I could only follow on his track by clinging to the
stems of the trees. The roar of the waterfall, now only a few feet on my
right hand, completely overpowered the voices of the dogs wherever they
might be, and I carefully commenced a perilous descent by the side of
the fall, knowing that both dogs and elk must be somewhere before me. So
stunning was the roar of the water, that a cannon might have been fired
without my hearing it. I was now one-third of the way down the fall,
which was about fifty feet deep. A large flat rock projected from the
side of the cliff, forming a platform of about six feet square, over
one corner of which, the water struck, and again bounded downwards. This
platform could only be reached by a narrow ledge of rock, beneath which,
at a depth of thirty feet, the water boiled at the foot of the fall.
Upon this platform stood the buck, having gained his secure but
frightful position by passing along the narrow ledge of rock. Should
either dog or man attempt to advance, one charge from the buck would
send them to perdition, as they would fall into the abyss below. This
the dogs were fully aware of, and they accordingly kept up a continual
bay from the edge of the cliff, while I attempted to dislodge him by
throwing stones and sticks upon him from above.

Finding this uncomfortable, he made a sudden dash forward, and, striking
the dogs over, away he went down the steep sides of the ravine, followed
once more by the dogs and myself.

By clinging from tree to tree, and lowering myself by the tangled
creepers, I was soon at the foot of the first fall, which plunged into
a deep pool on a flat plateau of rock, bounded on either side by a
wall-like precipice.

This plateau was about eighty feet in length, through which, the water
flowed in two rapid but narrow streams from the foot of the first fall
towards a second cataract at the extreme end. This second fall leaped
from the centre of the ravine into the lower plain.

When I arrived on this fine level surface of rock, a splendid sight
presented itself. In the centre of one of the rapid streams, the buck
stood at bay, belly-deep, with the torrent rushing in foam between his
legs. His mane was bristled up, his nostrils were distended, and his
antlers were lowered to receive the dog who should first attack him. I
happened to have a spear on that occasion, so that I felt he could not
escape, and I gave the baying dogs a loud cheer on. Poor Cato! it was
his first elk, and he little knew the danger of a buck at bay in such a
strong position. Answering with youthful ardour to my halloa, the young
dog sprang boldly at the elk's face, but, caught upon the ready antlers,
he was instantly dashed senseless upon the rocks. Now for old Smut, the
hero of countless battles, who, though pluck to the back-bone, always
tempers his valour with discretion.

Yoick to him, Smut! and I jumped into the water. The buck made a rush
forward, but at that moment a mass of yellow hair dangled before his
eyes as the true old dog hung upon his cheek. Now came the tug of
war--only one seizer! The spring had been so great, and the position of
the buck was so secure, that the dog had missed the ear, and only held
by the cheek. The elk, in an instant, saw his advantage, and quickly
thrusting his sharp brown antlers into the dog's chest, he reared to
his full height and attempted to pin the apparently fated Smut against
a rock. That had been the last of Smut's days of prowess had I not
fortunately had a spear. I could just reach the elk's shoulder in time
to save the dog. After a short but violent struggle, the buck yielded up
his spirit. He was a noble fellow, and pluck to the last.

Having secured his horns to a bush, lest he should be washed away by the
torrent, I examined the dogs. Smut was wounded in two places, but not
severely, and Cato had just recovered his senses, but was so bruised as
to move with great difficulty. In addition to this, he had a deep wound
from the buck's horn under the shoulder.

The great number of elk at the Horton plains and the open character of
the country, make the hunting a far more enjoyable sport than it is
in Newera Ellia, where the plains are of much smaller extent, and the
jungles are frightfully thick. During a trip of two months at the Horton
Plains, we killed forty-three elk, exclusive of about ten which the pack
ran into and killed by themselves, bringing home the account of their
performances in distended stomachs. These occurrences frequently happen
when the elk takes away through an impervious country, where a man
cannot possibly follow. In such cases the pack is either beaten off, or
they pull the elk down and devour it.

This was exemplified some time ago, when the three best dogs were nearly
lost. A doe elk broke cover from a small jungle at the Horton Plains,
and, instead of taking across the patinas (plains), she doubled back
to an immense pathless jungle, closely followed by three
greyhounds--Killbuck, Bran, and Lena. The first dog, who ran beautifully
by nose, led the way, and their direction was of course unknown, as the
dogs were all mute. Night came, and they had not returned. The next day
passed away, but without a sign of the missing dogs. I sent natives to
search the distant jungles and ravines in all directions. Three days
passed away, and I gave up all hope of them. We were sitting at dinner
one night, the fire was blazing cheerfully within, but the rain was
pouring without, the wind was howling in fitful gusts, and neither
moon nor stars relieved the pitchy darkness of the night, when the
conversation naturally turned to the lost dogs. What a night for the
poor brutes to be exposed to, roaming about the wet jungles without a
chance of return!

A sudden knock at the door arrested our attention; it opened. Two
natives stood there, dripping with wet and shivering with cold. One had
in his hand an elk's head, much gnawed; the other man, to my delight,
led the three lost dogs. They had run their elk down, and were found by
the side of a rocky river several miles distant--the two dogs asleep
in a cave, and the bitch was gnawing the remains of the half-consumed
animal. The two men who had found them were soon squatted before a
comfortable fire, with a good feed of curry and rice, and their skins
full of brandy.

Although the elk are so numerous at the Horton Plains, the sport at
length becomes monotonous from the very large proportion of the does.
The usual ratio in which they were killed was one buck to eight does.
I cannot at all account for this small proportion of bucks in this
particular spot. At Newera Ellia they are as two or three compared
with the does. The following extract of deaths, taken from my game-book
during three months of the year, will give a tolerably accurate idea of
the number killed:

   1852.
   March 24. Doe.  .    Killed in the Elk Plains.
         30. Two Does.  Killed in Newera Ellia Plain.
   April 3.  Doe.  .    Killed at the foot of Hack Galla.
         5.  Buck.  .   Killed at the foot of Pedro.
         8.  Doe.  .    Killed at the top of the Pass.
         13. Buck.  .   Killed at the foot of the Pass.
         16. Buck.  .   Killed in the river at the Pass.
         19. Doe.  .    Killed on the patinas on Badulla road.
         21. Buck.  .   Killed in the river at the base of Pedro.
         23. Buck.  .   Killed in Matturatta Plain.
         25. Doe.  .    Killed in the Elk Plains.
         25. Sow.  .    Killed in the Elk Plains.
         27. Boar.  .   Killed at the Limestone Quarry.
   May    3. Sow.  .    Killed in the Elk Plains.
          6. Two Does.  Killed in the Barrack Plain.
         10. Two Does.  One killed in the Barrack Plain, and
                           the other at the bottom of the Pass.
         12. Buck.  .   Killed in Newera Ellia Plain.
         19. Buck.  .   Killed in the Newera Ellia River.
         22. Doe.  .    Killed at the Pioneer Lines-Laboukelle.
         31. Two does.  Killed in the Barrack Plain.
   June   5. Buck.  .   Killed at the foot of Pedro.
          8. Buck.  .   Killed in the Barrack Plain.
         11. Two Bucks. Killed on Kicklamane Patina.
         24. Two Does.  Killed on Newera Ellia Plain.
         28. Boar.  .   Killed on Elk Plains.
         29. Doe.  .    Killed at the ' Rest and be Thankful bottom

         Total--28 Elk (11 Bucks, 17 Does), and 4 Hogs.

This is a tolerable show of game when it is considered that the sport
continues from year to year; there are no seasons at which time the game
is spared, but the hunting depends simply on the weather. Three times
a week the pack turns out in the dry season, and upon every fine day
during the wet months. It must appear a frightful extravagance to
English ideas to feed the hounds upon venison, but as it costs nothing,
it is a cheaper food than beef, and no other flesh is procurable in
sufficient quantity. Venison is in its prime when the elk's horns are in
velvet. At this season, when the new antlers have almost attained their
full growth, they are particularly tender, and the buck moves slowly and
cautiously through the jungle, lest he should injure them against the
branches, taking no further exercise than is necessary in the search of
food. He therefore grows very fat, and is then in fine condition.

The speed of an elk, although great, cannot be compared to that of the
spotted deer. I have seen the latter almost distance the best greyhounds
for the first 200 yards, but with this class of dogs the elk has
no chance upon fair open ground. Coursing the elk, therefore, is a
short-lived sport, as the greyhounds run into him immediately, and a
tremendous struggle then ensues, which must be terminated as soon
as possible by the knife, otherwise the dogs would most probably be
wounded. I once saw Killbuck perform a wonderful feat in seizing. A buck
elk broke cover in the Elk Plains, and I slipped a brace of greyhounds
after him, Killbuck and Bran. The buck had a start of about 200 yards,
but the speed of the greyhounds told rapidly upon him, and after a
course of a quarter of a mile, they were at his haunches, Killbuck
leading. The next instant he sprang in full fly, and got his hold by
the ear. So sudden was the shock, that the buck turned a complete
somersault, but, recovering himself immediately, he regained his feet,
and started off at a gallop down hill towards a stream, the dog still
hanging on. In turning over in his fall, the ear had twisted round,
and Killbuck, never having left his hold, was therefore on his back,
in which position he was dragged at great speed over the rugged ground.
Notwithstanding the difficulty of his position, he would not give up his
hold. In the meantime, Bran kept seizing the other ear, but continually
lost his hold as the ear gave way. Killbuck's weight kept the buck's
head on a level with his knees; and after a run of some hundred yards,
during the whole of which, the dog had been dragged upon his back
without once losing his hold, the elk's pace was reduced to a walk. With
both greyhounds now hanging on his ears, the buck reached the river, and
he and the dogs rolled down the steep bank into the deep water. I
came up just at this moment and killed the elk, but both dogs were
frightfully wounded, and for some time I despaired of their recovery.

This was an extraordinary feat in seizing; but Killbuck was matchless in
this respect, and accordingly of great value, as he was sure to retain
his hold when he once got it. This is an invaluable qualification in
a dog, especially with boars, as any uncertainty in the dog's hold,
renders the advance of the man doubly dangerous. I have frequently seen
hogs free themselves from a dog's hold at the very moment that I have
put the knife into them; this with a large boar is likely to cause an
accident.

I once saw a Veddah who nearly lost his life by one of these animals.
He was hunting 'guanas' (a species of large lizard which is eaten by all
the natives) with several small dogs, and they suddenly found a large
boar, who immediately stood to bay. The Veddah advanced to the attack
with his bow and arrows; but he had no sooner wounded the beast than he
was suddenly charged with great fury. In an instant the boar was into
him, and the next moment the Veddah was lying on the ground with his
bowels out. Fortunately a companion was with him, who replaced his
entrails and bandaged him up. I saw the man some years after; he was
perfectly well, but he had a frightful swelling in the front of the
belly, traversed by a wide blue scar of about eight inches in length.

A boar is at all times a desperate antagonist, where the hunting-knife
and dogs are the only available weapons. The largest that I ever
killed, weighed four hundredweight. I was out hunting, accompanied by my
youngest brother. We had walked through several jungles without success,
but on entering a thick jungle in the Elk Plains we immediately noticed
the fresh ploughings of an immense boar. In a few minutes we heard the
pack at bay without a run, and shortly after a slow running bay-there
was no mistake as to our game. He disdained to run, and, after walking
before the pack for about three minutes, he stood to a determined bay.
The jungle was frightfully thick, and we hastily tore our way through
the tangled underwood towards the spot. We had two staunch dogs by our
side, Lucifer and Lena, and when within twenty paces of the bay, we gave
them a halloa on. Away they dashed to the invisible place of conflict,
and we almost immediately heard the fierce grunting and roaring of the
boar. We knew that they had him, and scrambled through the jungle as
fast as we could towards the field of battle. There was a fight! the
underwood was levelled, and the boar rushed to and fro with Smut, Bran,
Lena, and Lucifer all upon him. Yoick to him! and some of the most
daring of the maddened pack went in. The next instant we were upon him,
mingled with a confused mass of hounds, and throwing our whole weight
upon the boar, we gave him repeated thrusts, apparently to little
purpose. Round came his head and gleaming tusks to the attack of his
fresh enemies, but old Smut held him by the nose, and, although the
bright tusks were immediately buried in his throat, the staunch old dog
kept his hold. Away went the boar covered by a mass of dogs, and
bearing the greater part of our weight in addition, as we hung on to the
hunting-knives buried in his shoulders. For about fifty paces he tore
through the thick jungle, crashing it like a cobweb. At length he again
halted; the dogs, the boar, and ourselves were mingled in a heap of
confusion. All covered with blood and dirt; our own cheers added to the
wild bay of the infuriated hounds and the savage roaring of the boar.
Still he fought and gashed the dogs right and left. He stood about
thirty-eight inches high, and the largest dogs seemed like puppies
beside him; still not a dog relaxed his hold, and he was covered with
wounds. I made a lucky thrust for the nape of his neck. I felt the point
of the knife touch the bone; the spine was divided, and he fell dead.

Smut had two severe gashes in the throat, Lena was cut under the ear,
and Bran's mouth was opened completely up to his ear in a horrible
wound. The dogs were completely exhausted, and lay panting around their
victim. We cut off the boar's head, and, slinging it upon a pole, we
each shouldered an end and carried it to the kennel. The power of this
animal must have been immense. My brother's weight and mine, together
being upward of twenty-four stone, in addition to that of half-a-dozen
heavy dogs, did not appear to trouble him, and had we not been close
to the spot when he came to bay, so that the knives came to the instant
succour of the dogs, he would have most probably killed or wounded half
the pack.

In this wild and rough kind of sport, the best dogs are constantly most
seriously wounded, and after a fight of this kind, needles and thread
and bandages are in frequent requisition. It is wonderful to see
the rapid recovery of dogs from wounds which at first sight appear
incurable. An instance occurred a short time ago, when I certainly gave
up one of the best dogs for lost. We had found a buck, who after a sharp
run, came to bay in a deep part of the river known by the name of
Black Pool. My youngest brother* {* James Baker, late Lieut.-Colonel
of Cambridge University Volunteers.} (who is always my companion
in hunting) and I were at some distance, but feeling certain of the
locality of the bay, we started off at full speed towards the supposed
spot. A run of a mile, partly through jungle leading into a deep wooded
ravine, brought us to the river, which flowed through the hollow, and
upon approaching the water, we distinctly heard the pack at bay at some
distance down the stream. Before we could get up, the buck dashed down
the river, and turning sharp up the bank, he took up the hill through
a dense jungle. Every hound was at fault, except two, who were close at
his heels, and being very fast they never lost sight of him. These two
dogs were Merriman and Tiptoe; and having followed the whole pack to
their track, we soon heard them in full cry on the top of the high hills
which overlook the river; they were coming down the hill-side at full
speed towards the Black Pool. Hiding behind the trees lest we should
head the buck, who we now heard crashing towards us through the jungle,
we suddenly caught a glimpse of his dun hide as he bounded past us, and
splashed into the river. A few seconds after, and Tiptoe, the leading
hound, came rushing on his track, but to our horror HE WAS DRAGGING HIS
ENTRAILS AFTER HIM. The excitement of the chase recognised no pain, and
the plucky animal actually plunged into the river, and in spite of his
mangled state, he swam across, and disappeared in the jungle on the
opposite side, upon the track which the elk had taken. The pack now
closed up; swimming the river, they opened upon a hot scent on the
opposite bank, and running parallel to the stream, they drove the buck
out of the jungle, and he came to bay on a rocky part of the river,
where the velocity of the torrent swept every dog past him and rendered
his position secure. The whole pack was there with the exception of
Tiptoe; we looked for him among the baying hounds in vain. For about
twenty minutes the buck kept his impregnable position, when in a foolish
moment he forsook it, and dashing along the torrent, he took to deep
water. The whole pack was after him; once Merriman got a hold, but
was immediately beaten off. Valiant, who was behaving nobly, and made
repeated attempts to seize, was struck beneath the water as often as he
advanced. The old veteran Smut was well to the point, and his deep voice
was heard loud above the din of the bay; but he could do nothing. The
buck had a firm footing, and was standing shoulder-deep; rearing to
his full height, and springing at the dogs as they swam towards him,
he struck them beneath the water with his fore feet. The bay lasted for
half an hour; at the expiration of this time, a sudden thought appeared
to strike old Smut; instead of continuing the attack, he swam direct for
the shore, leaving the buck still occupied with the baying pack. The elk
was standing about fourteen feet from the bank, which was covered with
jungle. Presently we saw the cunning old hero Smut creeping like a
leopard along the edge of the bank till opposite the elk; he slowly
retreated for a few paces, and the next moment he was seen flying
through the air, having made a tremendous spring at the elk's ear. A
cloud of spray for an instant concealed the effect. Both dog and buck
were for a few moments beneath the water; when they reappeared, the old
dog was hanging on his ear! Merriman at once had him by the other ear;
and one after another the seizers held him. In vain he tried to drown
them off by diving; as his head again rose above the surface, the dogs
were at their places: his struggles were useless, and the knife finished
him.

We now searched the jungle for Tiptoe's body, expecting to find him dead
where we had last seen him enter the jungle. Upon searching the spot,
we found him lying down, with his bowels in a heap by his side; the
quantity would have filled a cap. The hole in his side was made-by a
blow from the buck's hoof, and not being more than two inches in length,
strangulation had taken place, and I could not return the bowels.
The dog was still alive, though very faint. Fortunately we had a
small-bladed knife, with which I carefully enlarged the aperture,
and, having cleaned the bowels from the dirt and dead leaves which had
adhered to them, I succeeded in returning them; although I expected the
dog's death every instant. Taking off my neck tie, I made a pad,
with which I secured the aperture, and bound him tightly round with a
handkerchief. Making a sling with a couple of jackets upon a pole, we
placed the dog carefully, within it, and carried him home. By dressing
the wound every day with margosse oil, and keeping the pad and bandage
in the place, to my astonishment the dog recovered, and he is now as
well as ever he was, with the exception of the loss of one eye, which
was knocked out by the horn of an elk on another occasion.

The margosse oil that I have mentioned is a most valuable balsam for
wounds, having a peculiar smell, which prevents the attacks of flies,
who would otherwise blow the sore and occasion a nest of maggots in
a few hours. This oil is very healing, and soon creates a healthy
appearance in a bad cut. It is manufactured from the fruit of a plant
in Ceylon, but I have never met with it in the possession of an English
medical man. The smell of this oil is very offensive, even worse than
assafoetida, which it in some degree resembles. There are many medicinal
plants in Ceylon of great value, which, although made use of by the
natives, are either neglected or unknown to the profession in our own
country. One of the wild fruits of the jungle, the wood-apple or wild
quince, is very generally used by the natives in attacks of diarrhoea
and dysentery in the early stages of the disease; this has been used
for some years by English medical men in this island, but with no very
satisfactory effect.




CHAPTER IX.

A Morning's Deer-coursing--Kondawataweny--Rogue at Kondawa taweny--A
Close Shave--Preparations for Catching an Elephant--Catching
an Elephant--Taming Him--Flying Shot at a Buck--Cave at
Dimbooldene--Awkward Ground--A Charmed Life.

IT was in July, 1848, that I pitched my tent in the portion of Ceylon
known as the 'Park,' for the purpose of deer-coursing. I had only three
greyhounds, Killbuck, Bran and Lena, and these had been carried in a
palanquin from Newera Ellia, a distance of one hundred miles. The grass
had all been burnt about two months previously, and the whole country
was perfectly fresh and green, the young shoots not being more than half
a foot high. The deer were numerous but wild, which made the sport the
more enjoyable. I cannot describe the country better than by comparing
it to a rich English park, well watered by numerous streams and large
rivers, but ornamented by many beautiful rocky mountains, which are
seldom to be met with in England. If this part of the country had the
advantage of the Newera Ellia climate, it would be a Paradise, but
the intense heat destroys much of the pleasure in both shooting and
coursing, especially in the latter sport, as the greyhounds must be home
by 8 A. M., or they would soon die from the effects of the sun.

It was in the cool hour of sunrise, when the dew lay thickly upon the
grass, and the foliage glistened with the first beams of morning, that
we stalked over the extensive plains with Killbuck and Lena in the
slips, in search of deer. Several herds winded us at a distance of half
a mile, and immediately bounded away, rendering pursuit impossible; and
we determined not to slip the dogs unless they had a fair start, as one
run in this climate was quite work enough for a morning. After several
disappointments in stalking, we at length discovered a noble buck
standing alone by the edge of a narrow belt of jungle; the instant
that he observed us, he stepped proudly into the cover. This being open
forest, my brother took the greyhounds in at the spot where the deer had
entered, while I ran round to the opposite side of the cover, and took
my position upon an extensive lawn of fine grass about half a mile in
width.

I had not remained a minute at my post before I heard a crash in the
jungle, as though an elephant were charging through, and in another
instant, a splendid buck burst upon the plain at full speed, and away he
flew over the level lawn, with the brace of greyhounds laying out about
fifty paces behind him. Here was a fair trial of speed over a perfect
bowling-green, and away they flew, the buck exerting his utmost stride,
and the greyhounds stretching out till their briskets nearly touched the
ground; Killbuck leading with tremendous bounds, and Lena about a length
behind him.

By degrees the beautiful spring of the greyhounds appeared to tell, and
the distance between them and the buck gradually decreased, although
both deer and dogs flew along with undiminished speed. The plain was
nearly crossed, and the opposite jungle lay within 200 yards of them. To
gain this, the buck redoubled his exertions; the greyhounds knew as well
as he did, that it was his chance of escape, and with equal efforts
they pressed upon him. Not fifty paces now separated the buck from the
jungle, and with prodigious bounds he sped along; he neared it; he won
it! the yielding branches crashed before him, but the dogs were at his
haunches as the jungle closed over them and concealed the chase.

I was soon up; and upon entering the jungle, I could neither hear nor
see anything of them, but, by following up the track, I found them about
fifty yards from the entrance of the bush. The buck was standing on the
sandy bed of a dry stream, endeavouring in vain to free himself, while
the greyhounds pinned his nose to the ground, each hanging upon his
ears. The knife finished him immediately. There never was a more
exciting course; it had been nobly run by both the dogs, and well
contested by the buck, who was a splendid fellow and in fine condition.

On my way to the tent I wounded a doe at full speed, which Lena followed
singly and pulled down, thus securing our coolies a good supply of
venison. The flesh of the spotted deer is more like mutton than English
venison, and is excellent eating; it would be still better if the
climate would allow of its being kept for a few days.

There is no sport in Ceylon, in my opinion, that is equal to
deer-coursing, but the great difficulty attending it, is the lack of
good greyhounds. The spotted buck (or axis) is an animal of immense
power and courage; and although most greyhounds would course him, very
few would have sufficient courage and strength to hold him, unless
slipped two brace at a time, which would immediately spoil the sport.
A brace of greyhounds to one buck is fair play, and a good strong horse
will generally keep them in view. In two weeks' coursing in the Park, we
killed seventeen deer with three greyhounds; at the expiration of which
time, the dogs were so footsore and wounded by the hard burnt stubble of
the old grass that they were obliged to be sent home.

When the greyhounds had left, I turned my attention to elephants. There
were very few at this season in the Park, and I therefore left this part
of the country, which was dried up, and proceeded to Kondawataweny, in
the direction of Batticaloa.*(*The jungles have now been cleared away,
and a plain of 25,000 acres of rice cultivation has usurped the old
resort of elephants.) Kondawataweny is a small village, inhabited by
Moormen, situated on the edge of a large lake or tank. Upon arrival, I
found that the neighbourhood was alive with game of all kinds, and the
Moormen were excellent hands at elephants. There was accordingly no
difficulty in procuring good gun-bearers and trackers, and at 4 P.M.
of the day of our arrival, we started to make a circuit of the tank
in quest of the big game. At about 5 P.M. we observed several rogues
scattered in various directions around the lake; one of these fellows,
whose close acquaintance I made with the telescope, I prophesied would
show some fight before we owned his tail. This elephant was standing
some distance in the water, feeding and bathing. There were two
elephants close to the water's edge between him and us, and we
determined to have a shot at them en passant, and then try to bag the
big fellow.

Although we stalked very cautiously along the edge of the jungle which
surrounded the lake, divided from it by a strip of plain of about 200
yards in width, the elephants winded us, and retreated over the patina*
(*Grassy plains) at full speed towards the jungle. Endeavouring to cut
them off before they could reach the thick cover, we ran at our best
pace along the edge of the jungle, so as to meet them at right angles.
One reached the jungle before us, but a lucky shot at a distance of
sixty paces floored the other, who lay struggling on the ground, and was
soon extinguished. Having reloaded, we went in quest of the large rogue,
who was bathing in the tank. This gentleman had decamped, having taken
offence at the firing.

Close to the edge of the lake grew a patch of thick thorny jungle of
about two acres, completely isolated, and separated from the main jungle
by about eighty paces' length of fine turf. The Moormen knew the habits
of this rogue, who was well known in the neighbourhood, and they at once
said, "that he had concealed himself in the small patch of jungle." Upon
examining the tracks from the tank, we found they were correct.

The question was, how to dislodge him; the jungle was so dense that it
was impossible to enter, and driving was the only chance.

There was a small bush within a few paces of the main jungle, exactly
opposite that in which the elephant was concealed, and we determined to
hide behind this, while a few Moormen should endeavour to drive him from
his retreat, in which case, he would be certain to make for the main
forest, and would most probably pass near the bush, behind which we lay
in wait for him. Giving the Moormen a gun, we took to our hiding-place.
The men went round to the tank side of the patch of jungle, and
immediately commenced shouting and firing; securing themselves from an
attack by climbing into the highest trees. A short interval elapsed,
and not a sound of the elephant could be heard. The firing and shouting
ceased, and all was as still as death. Some of the Moormen returned from
the jungle, and declared that the elephant was not there; but this was
all nonsense; the fact was, they did not like the idea of driving him
out. Knowing the character of these 'rogues', I felt convinced that he
was one of the worst description, and that he was quietly waiting his
time, until some one should advance within his reach. Having given the
Moormen a supply of powder, I again despatched them to drive the jungle.
Once more the firing and shouting commenced, and continued until their
supply of powder was exhausted: no effects had been produced; it was
getting late, and the rogue appeared determined not to move. A dead
silence ensued, which was presently disturbed by the snapping of a
bough; in another moment the jungle crashed, and forth stepped the
object of our pursuit! He was a magnificent elephant, one of the most
vicious in appearance that I have ever seen; he understood the whole
affair as well as we did; and flourishing his trunk, he paced quickly
backwards and forwards for a few turns before the jungle he had just
quitted; suddenly making his resolution, he charged straight at the bush
behind which we had imagined ourselves concealed. He was about
eighty yards off when he commenced his onset; and seeing that we were
discovered, I left the hiding-place, and stepped to the front of the
bush to meet him with the four-ounce rifle. On he came at a great
pace, carrying his head very high, and making me the sole object of his
attack. I made certain of the shot, although his head was in a difficult
position, and I accordingly waited for him till he was within fifteen
paces. At this distance I took a steady shot and fired. A cloud of
smoke, from the heavy charge of powder, obscured everything, but I felt
so certain that he was down, that I looked under the smoke to see where
he lay. Ye gods! He was just over me in full charge! I had not even
checked him by the shot, and he was within three feet of me, going at
a tremendous pace. Throwing my heavy rifle into the bush, I doubled
quickly to one side, hoping that he would pass me and take to the main
jungle, to which I ran parallel as fast as my legs could carry me.
Instead of taking to the jungle, he turned short and quickly after me,
and a fair race commenced. I had about three feet start of him, and
I saw with delight that the ground was as level and smooth as a lawn;
there was no fear of tripping up, and away I went at the fastest pace
that I ever ran either before or since, taking a look behind me to see
how the chase went on. I saw the bullet-mark in his forehead, which was
covered with blood; his trunk was stretched to its full length to
catch me, and was now within two feet of my back; he was gaining on me,
although I was running at a tremendous pace. I could not screw an inch
more speed out of my legs, and I kept on, with the brute gaining on me
at every stride. He was within a foot of me, and I had not heard a shot
fired, and not a soul had come to the rescue. The sudden thought struck
me that my brother could not possibly overtake the elephant at the pace
at which we were going, and I immediately doubled short to my left into
the open plain, and back towards the guns. The rogue overshot me. I
met my brother close to his tail, which position he had with difficulty
maintained; but he could not get a shot, and the elephant turned into
the jungle, and disappeared just as I escaped him by a sharp turn. This
was a close shave; had not the ground been perfectly level I must have
been caught to a certainty, and even as it was, he would have had me in
another stride had I not turned from my straight course. It was nearly
dark, and we returned to the tent, killing several peacocks and ducks on
our way, with which the country swarmed.

We passed a miserable night, not being able to sleep on account of the
mosquitoes, which were in swarms. I was delighted to see the first beam
of morning, when our little winged enemies left us, and a 'chatty' bath
was most enjoyable after the restless tossings of a sleepless night. The
Moormen were out at dawn to look for elephants, the guns were cleaned,
and I looked forward to the return of the trackers with peculiar
interest, as we had determined to 'catch an elephant.' The Moormen were
all full of excitement and preparation. These men were well practised
in this sport, and they were soon busied in examining and coiling their
hide ropes for the purpose.

At about mid-day the trackers returned, having found a herd about five
miles from the village. We were all ready, and we set off without
a moment's delay, our party consisting of my brother, myself, four
gun-bearers, and about thirty Moormen, each of whom carried a coil of
finely-twisted rope made of thongs of raw deer's hide; these ropes were
each twenty yards in length, and about an inch in diameter.

Having skirted the borders of the tank for about three miles, we turned
into the forest, and continued our route through alternate open
and thick forest, until we at length reached a rough, open country,
interspersed with low jungles. Here we met the watchers, who reported
the herd to be a few hundred paces from us in some patches of thick
jungle. Taking the wind, we carefully approached their position. The
ground was very rough, being a complete city of anthills about two
feet high; these were overgrown with grass, giving the open country an
appearance of a vast churchyard of turf graves. Among these tumps grew
numerous small clusters of bushes, above which, we shortly discovered
the flapping ears of the elephants, they were slowly feeding towards the
more open ground. It was a lovely afternoon, the sky was covered with
a thin grey cloud, and the sun had little or no power. Hiding behind a
bush, we watched the herd for some time, until they had all quitted the
bushes and were well out in the open. There were two elephants facing
us, and the herd, which consisted of seven, were tolerably close
together, with the exception of one, who was about thirty yards apart
from the main body; this fellow we determined to catch. We therefore
arranged that our gun-bearers and four rope-carriers should accompany
us, while the remaining portion of our party should lie in reserve to
come to our assistance when required, as so large a body of men could
not possibly stalk the herd without being discovered. Falling upon our
hands and knees, we crept between the grassy ant-hills towards the two
leading elephants, who were facing us. The wind was pretty brisk, and
the ant-hills effectually concealed us till we were within seven paces
of our game. The two leaders then both dropped dead to the front shot,
and the fun began. The guns were so well handed up, that we knocked over
the six elephants before they had given us a run of twenty yards, and we
all closed up and ran under the tail of the retreating elephant that we
had devoted to the ropes. He was going at about seven miles an hour;
we therefore had no difficulty in keeping up with him, as we could
run between the ant-hills much faster than he could. The ropes were in
readiness, and with great dexterity, one of the Moormen slipped a noose
over one of his hind feet, as he raised it from the ground; and
drawing it tight, he dropped his coil. We all halted, and allowed the
unconscious elephant to run out his length of line; this he soon did,
and the rope trailed after him like a long snake, we all following at
about the centre of the length of rope, or twenty paces behind him.
He was making for the jungle, which was not far distant, and we were
running him like a pack of hounds, but keeping a gun in readiness, lest
he should turn and charge. He at length reached the wooded bank of a dry
river, and thick rattan jungle bordered the opposite side; he thought he
was safe, and he plunged down the crumbling bank. We were a little too
quick for him, by taking a double turn round a tree with the slack end
of the rope just as he descended the bank; the effect of this was to
bring him to a sudden standstill, and the stretching of the hide rope
threw him upon his knees. He recovered himself immediately, and used
extraordinary efforts to break away; tightening the rope to its utmost
length, he suddenly lifted up his tied leg and threw his whole weight
forward. Any but a hide rope of that diameter must have given way, but
this stretched like a harp-string, and at every effort to break it, the
yielding elasticity of the hide threw him upon his head, and the sudden
contraction after the fall, jerked his leg back to its full length.

After many vain, but tremendous efforts to free himself, he turned his
rage upon his pursuers, and charged everyone right and left; but he was
safely tied, and we took some little pleasure in teasing him. He had
no more chance than a fly in a spider's web. As he charged in one
direction, several nooses were thrown round his hind legs; then his
trunk was caught in a slip-knot, then his fore legs, then his neck, and
the ends of all these ropes being brought together and hauled tight, he
was effectually hobbled.

This had taken some time to effect (about half an hour), and we now
commenced a species of harness to enable us to drive him to the village.

The first thing was to secure his trunk by tying it to one of his fore
legs; this leg was then fastened with a slack rope to one of his hind
legs, which prevented him from taking a longer stride than about two
feet; his neck was then tied to his other fore leg, and two ropes were
made fast to both his fore and hind legs; the ends of these ropes being
manned by thirty men.

Having completed these arrangements, he was released from the ties which
hobbled him, and we commenced the arduous task of driving him towards
the village, a distance of five miles. The only method of getting him
along, was to keep two men to tease him in front, by shouting and waving
cloths before his face; he immediately charged these fellows, who, of
course, ran in the right direction for the village, and by this repeated
manoeuvre we reached the borders of the tank by nightfall. We were still
at least two miles from the village, and we were therefore obliged
to tie him to a tree for the night. The next morning we succeeded in
driving him to the village. He was a fine elephant, but not full grown,
and for this reason he had been selected from the herd for capture, as
they are more valuable at this particular period of their growth,
being easily rendered docile. He was about sixteen years of age; and
by starving for two days, and subsequent gentle treatment, the natives
mounted and rode him on the third day of his capture, taking the
precaution, however, of first securing his trunk. This elephant was then
worth fifteen pounds to be sold to the Arabs for the Indian market.

After a stay of a few days in this neighbourhood, during which we had
good sport in elephant-shooting, we returned to the Park country. The
first evening of our return, we heard elephants roaring in the jungle
within a short distance of the tent. At daybreak the next morning we
were on their tracks, and after a walk of five miles we found them in
thick thorny jungle, and only killed three. We had a long day's work,
and we were returning home in the afternoon when we suddenly observed a
herd of deer grazing in the beautiful park. The headman of this part of
the country is a first-rate sportsman, and has always accompanied me in
shooting through this district. This man, whose name is Banda, is the
only Cingalese that I have ever seen who looks like a man of good birth
in his nation. Strikingly handsome and beautifully proportioned, with
the agility of a deer, he is in all respects the beau ideal of a native
hunter. His skill in tracking is superb, and his thorough knowledge of
the habits of all Ceylon animals, especially of elephants, renders him
a valuable ally to a sportsman. He and I commenced a careful stalk, and
after a long circuit I succeeded in getting within seventy paces of the
herd of deer. The ground was undulating, and they were standing on the
top of a low ridge of hills. I dropped a buck with my two-ounce rifle,
and the herd immediately disappeared behind the top of the hill. Taking
one of my double-barrelled rifles, which Banda gave me, I ran to the top
of the hill as fast as I could, just in time to see the herd going at a
flying speed along a small valley at a long distance. Another buck was
separated from the herd by about forty paces, and putting up the second
sight of my rifle, I took a shot at him; to my delight he plunged
heavily upon the turf. I fired my remaining barrel at the herd, but I
must have missed, as none fell. I immediately stepped the distance to
the dead buck, 187 paces. I had fired a little too high, and missed his
body, but the ball struck him in the neck and had broken his spine. A
successful flying shot at this distance has a very pretty effect, and
Banda was delighted.

There were very few elephants at this season at the Park, and the
numberless 'ticks' which swarmed in the grass, spoilt all the pleasure
of shooting. These little wretches, which are not larger than a small
grain of gunpowder, find their way to every part of the body, and the
irritation of their bites is indescribable. Scratching, is only adding
fuel to fire; there is no certain prevention or relief from their
attacks; the best thing that I know is cocoa-nut oil rubbed daily over
the whole body, but the remedy is almost as unpleasant as the bite.
Ceylon is, at all times, a frightful place for vermin: in the dry
weather we have ticks; it the wet weather mosquitoes, and, what are
still more disgusting, 'leeches,' which swarm in the grass, and upon the
leaves of the jungle. These creatures insinuate themselves through all
the openings in a person's dress--up the trousers, under the waistcoat,
down the neck, up the wrists, and in fact everywhere, drawing blood with
insatiable voracity, and leaving an unpleasant irritation for some days
after.

All these annoyances form great drawbacks to the enjoyment of the
low-country sports; although they are afterwards forgotten, and the
bright moments of the sport are all that are looked back to, they
are great discomforts at the time. When the day is over, and the man,
fatigued by intense heat and a hard day's work, feels himself refreshed
by a bath and a change of clothes, the incurable itching of a thousand
tick-bites destroys all his pleasure; he finds himself streaming with
blood from leech-bites, and for the time he feels disgusted with the
country. First-rate sport can alone compensate for all these annoyances.

There is a portion of the Park country known as Dimbooldene. In this
part there is a cave formed by a large overhanging rock, which is a much
cooler residence than the tent. Here we accordingly bivouacked, the cave
being sufficiently large to contain the horses in addition to ourselves
and servants. After a delightfully cool night, free from mosquitoes, we
made a day of it, but we walked from sunrise till 5 P.M. without seeing
a sign of an elephant. At length, from the top of a high hill on the
very confines of the Park country, we looked across a deep valley, and
with the assistance of the telescope we plainly distinguished a large
single elephant feeding on the grassy side of an opposite mountain. To
cross the deep valley that separated us, and to ascend the mountain,
would have taken several hours, and at this time of the day it was
impracticable; we were thus compelled to turn our backs upon the game,
and return towards our rocky home. Tired, more from our want of success
than from the day's work, we strolled leisurely along, and we were
talking of the best plan to be adopted for the next day's work, when I
suddenly observed a herd of eight elephants going up the side of a small
hill at their best pace within 200 yards of us. They had just quitted a
small jungle at the bottom of a ravine, and they had been alarmed by our
approach.

Off we started in pursuit, down the rugged side of the hill we were
descending, and up the opposite hill, upon the elephants' tracks,
as hard as we could run. Just as we reached the top of the hill, the
elephants were entering a small jungle on the other side. My brother
got a shot, and killed the last of the herd; in another moment they had
disappeared. It had been a sharp burst up the steep hill, and we stopped
to breathe, but we were almost immediately in pursuit again, as we saw
the herd emerge from the jungle at the base of the hill, and plough
their way through a vast field of high lemon grass.

Upon arriving on their tracks, they had fairly distanced us. The grass,
which was as thick as a hedge, was trodden into lanes by the elephants,
and upon either side it stood like a wall ten or twelve feet high.
Upon these tracks we ran along for some time, until it became dusk. We
halted, and were consulting as to the prudence of continuing the chase
at this late hour, when we suddenly heard the cracking of the branches
in a small jungle in a hollow close to our left, and upon taking a
position upon some rising ground, we distinctly saw several elephants
standing in the high grass about a hundred paces before us, close to
the edge of the jungle in which the remaining portion of the herd was
concealed. Two of the elephants were looking at us, and as there was no
time to lose, we walked straight up to them. They stood quietly watching
us till we were within twenty yards, when they came a few paces forward,
one immediately fall ing dead to my shot, while the other was turned by
a shot from my brother; the rest retreated to the jungle over the most
difficult ground for both man and beast. Immense rocks lay scattered in
heaps over the surface, forming chasms by the intervening crevices of
five and six feet in depth; from these crevices the long lemon grass
grew in dense tufts, completely hiding the numerous pitfalls, and making
the retreat of the elephants and our pursuit equally difficult. I was
close to the tail of a large elephant, who was picking his way carefully
over the treacherous surface, and I was waiting for an opportunity for
a shot should he turn his head, when I suddenly pitched head first into
one of these rocky holes. Here I scrambled for some seconds before I
could extricate myself, as I was carrying my heavy four-ounce rifle; and
at length, upon recovering my footing, I found that all the elephants
had gained the jungle, except the one that I had been following. He was
about twenty yards from me, and was just entering the jungle, but I got
a splendid shot at him behind the ear and rolled him over.

It was very nearly dark, and we could not of course follow the herd any
farther; we therefore reloaded, and turned towards the direction of
the cave; this was plainly shown by a distant blaze of light from
the night-fires, which were already lit. We were walking slowly along
parallel to the jungle, into which the elephants had retreated, when my
man Wallace, who is a capital gun-bearer, halloed out, 'Here comes an
elephant!' and in the dim twilight I could see an elephant bowling at a
great pace towards us, but close to the jungle. He was forty yards from
me, but my brother fired at him and without effect. I took a quick shot
with a double-barrelled rifle, and he dropped immediately. Hearing him
roar as he lay in the high lemon grass by the edge of the jungle, I
ran down the gentle slope to the spot, followed by my trusty gun-bearer
Wallace, as I knew the elephant was only stunned and would soon recover.
Upon arriving within a few feet of the spot, pushing my way with
difficulty through the tangled lemon grass, I could not see where he
lay, as daylight had now vanished. I was vainly looking about, when I
suddenly heard a rush in the grass close to me, and I saw the head and
cocked ears of the elephant within six feet, as he came at me. I had
just time to fire my remaining barrel, and down he dropped to the shot!
I jumped back a few paces to assure myself of the result, as the smoke
hanging in the high grass, added to the darkness, completely blinded me.
Wallace pushed the spare rifle into my hand, and to my astonishment I
saw the head and cocked ears again coming at me! It was so dark that I
could not take an aim, but I floored him once more by a front shot, and
again I jumped back through the tangled grass, just in time to avoid
him, as he, for the third time, recovered himself and charged. He was
not five paces from me; I took a steady shot at him with my last barrel,
and I immediately bolted as hard as I could run. This shot once
more floored him, but he must have borne a charmed life, as he again
recovered his legs, and to my great satisfaction he turned into the
jungle and retreated. This all happened in a few seconds; had it been
daylight I could of course have killed him, but as it happened I could
not even distinguish the sights at the end of my rifle. In a few
minutes afterwards, it became pitch dark, and we could only steer for
the cave by the light of the fire, which was nearly two miles distant.

The next day, we found a herd of eight elephants in very favourable
ground, and succeeded in killing seven; but this was the last herd in
the Park, and after a few days spent in beating up the country without
success, I returned to Newera Ellia, the bag being twenty-two elephants
during a trip of three weeks, in addition to deer, hogs, buffalo, and
small game, which had afforded excellent sport.




CHAPTER X.

Another Trip to the Park-A Hard Day's Work-Discover a Herd-Death of
the Herd-A Furious Charge-Caught at Last-The Consequences-A Thorough
Rogue-Another Herd in High Lemon Grass-Bears-A Fight between a
Moorman and a Bear-A Musical Herd-Herd Escape-A Plucky Buck-Death of
'Killbuck'-Good Sport with a Herd-End of the Trip.

ABOUT twelve months elapsed without my pulling a trigger. I had
contented myself with elk-hunting in Newera Ellia and the vicinity, but
in November, 1850, the greyhounds were again in their palanquin, and,
ac companied by my brother V., I was once more in the saddle on my
steady-going old horse Jack, en route for the Park.

It was 5 P.M. on a cool and lovely evening that we halted, and unsaddled
in this beautiful country. Our tents and coolies were far behind, our
horse-keepers were our only attendants, and we fixed upon a spot as
the most eligible site for the tents. A large open park lay before us,
interspersed with trees, and clumps of forest. A clear stream flowed
from some low rocky hills upon our right, and several detached masses of
rock lay scattered irregularly here and there, like the ruins of an old
castle. Large trees grew from the crevices of these rocks, and beneath
their shade we turned our horses loose to graze upon a soft sweet grass,
with which this part of the Park is covered. We had the greyhounds with
us, and a single rifle, but no other guns, as the servants were far
behind. Having given directions to the horse-keepers to point out the
spot for the tents on the arrival of the people, we took a stroll with
the greyhounds to get a deer, as we depended upon this chance for our
dinner.

Just as we were starting, we noticed two large elephants feeding on the
rocky hills within a quarter of a mile of us; but having no guns up,
with the exception of one rifle, we were obliged to postpone the attack,
and, cautioning the horse-keepers to observe silence lest the game
should be alarmed, we left the elephants to their meal, while we struck
off in another direction with the greyhounds. We found a herd of deer
within half a mile of our starting-place; they had just come out from
the forest for the night's feeding; and when I first saw them, they were
barking to each other in a small glade within sixty paces of the jungle.
Dinner depending upon success, I stalked them with the greatest caution.
Taking Killbuck and Lena in the slips I crept from tree to tree without
the slightest noise; I had the wind, and if any dogs could kill a deer
in the difficult position in which the herd stood, these two would do
it. I got within sixty yards of the herd before they observed me, and as
they dashed off towards the jungle, I slipped the straining greyhounds.
A loud cheer to the dogs confused the herd, and they scattered to the
right and left as they gained the forest, the dogs being close up with
them, and Killbuck almost at a buck's throat as he reached the jungle.
Following as well as I could through the dusky jungle, I shortly heard
the cry of a deer, and on arriving at the spot I found Killbuck and Lena
with a buck on the ground. No deer had a chance with this wonderful
dog Killbuck. When he was once slipped, there was no hope for the game
pursued; no matter what the character of the country might be, it was
certain death to the deer. We gralloched the buck, and having fed the
dogs with the offal, we carried him on a pole to the place where we had
left the horses. On arrival, we deposited our heavy burden; and to
our satisfaction, we found all our people had arrived. The tents were
pitched, and the night-fires were already blazing, as daylight had
nearly ceased.

In the course of an hour, we were comfortably seated at our table, with
venison steaks, and chops smoking before us--thanks to the dogs, who
were now soundly sleeping at our feet. During the progress of dinner
I planned the work for the day following. We were now eight miles from
Nielgalla (Blue Rock), the village at which Banda resided, and I ordered
a man to start off at daybreak to tell him that I was in his country,
and to bring old Medima and several other good men (that I knew) to the
tent without delay. I proposed that we should, in the meantime, start
at daylight on the tracks of the two elephants that we had seen upon
the hills, taking Wallace and a few of the best coolies as gun-bearers.
Wallace is a Cochin man, who prides himself upon a mixture of Portuguese
blood. He speaks six different languages fluently, and is without
exception the best interpreter and the most plucky gun-bearer that
I have ever seen. He has accompanied me through so many scenes with
unvarying firmness that I never have the slightest anxiety about my
spare guns if he is there, as he keeps the little troop of gun-bearers
in their places in a most methodical manner.

At break of day on the following morning we were upon the tracks of the
two elephants, but a slight shower during the night had so destroyed
them that we found it was impossible to follow them up. We therefore
determined to examine the country thoroughly for fresh tracks, and we
accordingly passed over many miles of ground, but to little purpose, as
none were to be seen.

We at length discovered fresh traces of a herd in thick thorny jungle,
which was too dense to enter, but marking their position, we determined
to send out watchers on the following day to track them into better
country. Having killed a deer, we started him off with some coolies that
we had taken with us on this chance, and we continued our route till 3
P.M. We had lost our way, and, not having any guide, we had no notion
of the position of the tents; the heat of the day had been intense,
and, not having breakfasted, we were rather anxious about the direction.
Strolling through this beautiful expanse of Park country, we directed
our course for a large rocky mountain, at a few miles' distance, at the
base of which I knew lay the route from the tent to Nielgalla. To our
great satisfaction we found the path at about 4 P.M., and we walked
briskly along at the foot of the mountain in the direction of our
encampment, which was about four miles distant.

We had just arrived at an angle of the mountain, which, in passing, we
were now leaving to our left, when we suddenly halted, our attention
having been arrested by the loud roaring of elephants in a jungle at
the foot of the hills, within a quarter of a mile of us. The roaring
continued at intervals, reverberating among the rocks like distant
thunder, till it at length died away to stillness.

We soon arrived in the vicinity of the sound, and shortly discovered
tracks upon a hard sandy soil, covered with rocks and overgrown with a
low, but tolerably open jungle at the base of the mountain. Following
the tracks, we began to ascend steep flights of natural steps formed by
the successive layers of rock, which girded the foot of the mountain;
these were covered with jungle, interspersed with large detached masses
of granite, which in some places formed alleys through which the herd
had passed. The surface of the ground being nothing but hard rock,
tracking was very difficult, and it took me a considerable time to
follow them up by the pieces of twigs and crunched leaves, which the
elephants had dropped while feeding. I at length tracked them to a small
pool formed by the rain-water in the hollow of the rock; here they had
evidently been drinking only a few minutes previous, as the tracks of
their feet upon the margin of the pool were still wet. I now went on in
advance of the party with great caution, as I knew that we were not many
paces from the herd. Passing through several passages among the rocks,
I came suddenly upon a level plateau of ground covered with dense lemon
grass about twelve feet high, which was so thick and tangled, that a
man could with difficulty force his way through it. This level space was
about two acres in extent, and was surrounded by jungle upon all sides
but one; on this side, to our right as we entered, the mountain rose in
rocky steps, from the crevices of which, the lemon grass grew in tall
tufts.

The instant that I arrived in this spot, I perceived the nap of an
elephant's ear in the high grass, about thirty paces from me, and
upon careful inspection I distinguished two elephants standing close
together. By the rustling of the grass in different places I could see
that the herd was scattered, but I could not make out the elephants
individually, as the grass was above their heads.

I paused for some minutes to consider the best plan of attack; but the
gun-bearers, who were behind me, being in a great state of excitement,
began to whisper to each other, and in arranging their positions behind
their respective masters, they knocked several of the guns together. In
the same moment, the two leading elephants discovered us, and, throwing
their trunks up perpendicularly, they blew the shrill trumpet of alarm
without attempting to retreat. Several trumpets answered the call
immediately from different positions in the high grass, from which,
trunks were thrown up, and huge heads just appeared in many places, as
they endeavoured to discover the danger which the leaders had announced.

The growl of an elephant is exactly like the rumbling of thunder, and
from their deep lungs the two leader, who had discovered us, kept up an
uninterrupted peal, thus calling the herd together. Nevertheless, they
did not attempt to retreat, but stood gazing attentively at us with
their ears cocked, looking extremely vicious. In the meantime, we stood
perfectly motionless, lest we should scare them before the whole
herd had closed up. In about a minute, a dense mass of elephants had
collected round the two leaders, who were all gazing at us; and thinking
this a favourable moment, I gave the word, and we pushed towards them
through the high grass. A portion of the herd immediately wheeled round
and retreated as we advanced, but five elephants, including the two who
had first discovered us, formed in a compact line abreast, and thrashing
the long grass to the right and left with their trunks, with ears cocked
and tails up, they came straight at us. We pushed forward to meet them,
but they still came on in a perfect line, till within ten paces of us.

A cloud of smoke hung over the high grass as the rifles cracked in rapid
succession, and the FIVE ELEPHANTS LAY DEAD in the same order as they
had advanced. The spare guns had been beautifully handed; and running
between the carcasses, we got into the lane that the remaining portion
of the herd had made by crushing the high grass in their retreat. We
were up with them in a few moments; down went one! then another! up he
got again, almost immediately recovering from V.'s shot; down he went
again! as I floored him with my last barrel.

I was now unloaded, as I had only two of my double-barrelled No. 10
rifles out that day, but the chase was so exciting that I could not help
following empty-handed, in the hope that some gun-bearer might put one
of V.'s spare guns in my hand. A large elephant and her young one, who
was about three feet and a half high, were retreating up the rugged side
of the mountain, and the mother, instead of protecting the little one,
was soon a hundred paces ahead of him, and safely located in a thick
jungle which covered that portion of the mountain. Being empty-handed,
I soon scrambled up and caught the little fellow by the tail; but he was
so strong that I could not hold him, although I exerted all my strength,
and he dragged me slowly towards the jungle to which his mother had
retreated. V. now came up, and he being loaded, I told him to keep a
look-out for the mother's return, while I secured my captive, by seizing
him by the trunk with one hand and by the tail with the other; in this
manner I could just master him by throwing my whole weight down the
hill, and he began to roar like a full-grown elephant. The mother was
for a wonder faithless to her charge, and did not return to the little
one's assistance. While I was engaged in securing him, the gun-bearers
came up, and at this moment I observed, at the foot of the hill, another
elephant, not quite full grown, who was retreating through the high
grass towards the jungle. There were no guns charged except one of my
No. 10 rifles, which some one had reloaded; taking this, I left the
little 'Ponchy' with V. and the gun-bearers, and running down the side
of the hill, I came up with the elephant just as he was entering the
jungle, and getting the earshot, I killed him.

We had bagged nine elephants, and only one had escaped from the herd;
this was the female who had forsaken her young one.

Wallace now came up and cut off the tails of those that I had killed.
I had one barrel still loaded, and I was pushing my way through the
tangled grass towards the spot where the five elephants lay together,
when I suddenly heard Wallace shriek out, 'Look out, sir! Look out!--an
elephant's coming!'

I turned round in a moment; and close past Wallace, from the very spot
where the last dead elephant lay, came the very essence and incarnation
of a 'rogue' elephant in full charge. His trunk was thrown high in the
air, his ears were cocked, his tail stood erect above his back as stiff
as a poker, and screaming exactly like the whistle of a railway engine,
he rushed upon me through the high grass with a velocity that was
perfectly wonderful. His eyes flashed as he came on, and he had singled
me out as his victim.

I have often been in dangerous positions, but I never felt so totally
devoid of hope as I did in this instance. The tangled grass rendered
retreat impossible. I had only one barrel loaded, and that was useless,
as the upraised trunk protected his forehead. I felt myself doomed; the
few thoughts that rush through men's minds in such hopeless positions,
flew through mine, and I resolved to wait for him till he was close upon
me, before I fired, hoping that he might lower his trunk and expose his
forehead.

He rushed along at the pace of a horse in full speed; in a few moments,
as the grass flew to the right and left before him, he was close upon
me, but still his trunk was raised and I would not fire. One second
more, and at this headlong pace he was within three feet of me; down
slashed his trunk with the rapidity of a whip-thong! and with a shrill
scream of fury he was upon me!

I fired at that instant; but in a twinkling of an eye I was flying
through the air like a ball from a bat. At the moment of firing. I had
jumped to the left, but he struck me with his tusk in full charge upon
my right thigh, and hurled me eight or ten paces from him. That very
moment he stopped, and, turning round, he beat the grass about with his
trunk, and commenced a strict search for me. I heard him advancing close
to the spot where I lay as still as death, knowing that my last chance
lay in concealment. I heard the grass rustling close to me; closer and
closer he approached, and he at length beat the grass with his trunk
several times exactly above me. I held my breath, momentarily expecting
to feel his ponderous foot upon me. Although I had not felt the
sensation of fear while I had stood opposed to him, I felt like what
I never wish to feel again while he was deliberately hunting me up.
Fortunately I had reserved my fire until the rifle had almost touched
him, for the powder and smoke had nearly blinded him, and had spoiled
his acute power of scent. To my joy I heard the rustling of the grass
grow fainter; again I heard it at a still greater distance; at length it
was gone!

At that time I thought that half my bones were broken, as I was numbed
from head to foot by the force of the blow. His charge can only be
compared to a blow from a railway engine going at twenty miles an hour.

Not expecting to be able to move, I crept to my hands and knees. To my
delight there were no bones broken, and with a feeling of thankfulness I
stood erect. I with difficulty reached a stream of water near the spot,
in which I bathed my leg, but in a few minutes it swelled to the size of
a man's waist. In this spot everyone had congregated, and were loading
their guns, but the rogue had escaped.

My cap and rifle were now hunted for, and they were at length found near
the spot where I had been caught. The elephant had trodden on the stock
of the rifle, and it bears the marks of his foot to this day.

In a few minutes I was unable to move. We therefore sent to the tent for
the horses, and arrived at 6 P.M., having had a hard day's work from 5
A.M. without food.

On arrival at the tent we found Banda and the trackers.

There could not be a better exemplification of a rogue than in this
case. A short distance apart from the herd, he had concealed himself in
the jungle, from which position he had witnessed the destruction of his
mates. He had not stirred a foot until he saw us totally unprepared,
when he instantly seized the opportunity and dashed out upon me. If I
had attempted to run from him, I should have been killed, as he would
have struck me in the back; my only chance was in the course which I
pursued--to wait quietly until he was just over me, and then to jump on
one side; he thus struck me on the thickest part of the thigh instead of
striking me in the stomach, which he must have done had I remained in my
first position; this would have killed me on the spot.

I passed an uncomfortable night, my leg being very painful and covered
with wet bandages of vinegar and water. The bruise came out from my
ankle to my hip; the skin was broken where the tush had struck me, and
the blood had started under the skin over a surface of nearly a foot,
making the bruise a bright purple, and giving the whole affair a most
unpleasant appearance. The next morning I could not move my leg, which
felt like a sack of sand, and was perfectly numbed; however, I kept on
a succession of cold lotions, and after breakfast I was assisted upon my
horse, and we moved the encampment to Nielgalla. On the following day
I could just manage to hobble along, my leg being at least double its
usual size, and threatening to spoil my sport for the whole trip.

We were seated at breakfast when a native came in, bringing intelligence
of a herd of elephants about four miles distant. I was not in a state
for shooting, but I resolved to mount my steady old horse Jack, and take
my chance of revenge for my mishap. The guns were accordingly loaded,
and we started.

We had ridden through the Park for about three miles, and had just
turned round the corner of a patch of jungle, when we came suddenly upon
a large rogue elephant, who was standing in the open, facing us at about
seventy yards. The moment that he saw the horses he turned sharp round,
and retreated to a long belt of fine open forest which was close behind
him. There was no resisting the invitation upon such favourable ground,
and immediately dismounting, we followed him. I now found that my leg
was nearly useless, and I could only move at a snail's pace, and even
then with great pain. Upon reaching the forest, we found that the rogue
had decamped, not wishing to meet us in such advantageous ground. We
followed his tracks for a few hundred yards through the wood, till we
suddenly emerged upon a large tract of high lemon grass. Into this, our
cunning foe had retreated, and with my decreased powers of locomotion,
I did not wish to pursue him farther. I was at length persuaded by Banda
to make a trial, and we accordingly left the track, and pushed our way
through the high grass to some rising ground, from which we could look
over the surface of waving vegetation, and find out the exact position
of the elephant. While forcing our way through the dense mass, I
momentarily expected to hear the rush of the rogue charging down upon
us, and I was glad to find myself at length safe in the position we had
steered for.

Upon scanning the surface of the grass, I distinguished the elephant
immediately; he was standing close to the edge of the jungle in the high
grass facing us, at about 150 yards distant. He was a picture of intense
excitement and attention, and was evidently waiting for us. In the
position that we now occupied, we unavoidably gave him the wind, and he
of course almost immediately discovered us. Giving two or three shrill
trumpets, he paced quickly to and fro before the jungle, as though he
were guarding the entrance. To enter the high grass to attack him, would
have been folly, as he was fully prepared, and when once in the tangled
mass we could not have seen him until he was upon us; we therefore
amused ourselves for about ten minutes by shouting at him. During
this time he continued pacing backwards and forwards, screaming almost
without intermission; and having suddenly made up his mind to stand
this bullying no longer, he threw his trunk up in the air and charged
straight at us. The dust flew like smoke from the dry grass as he rushed
through it; but we were well prepared to receive him. Not wishing him
to come to close quarters with my useless leg, I gave him a shot with my
two-ounce rifle, at about 120 paces. It did not even check him, but
it had the effect of making him lower his trunk, and he came on at
undiminished speed. Taking the four-ounce rifle from Wallace, I heard
the crack of the ball as it entered his head at about 100 yards. He
was down! A general shout of exclamation rose from Banda and all the
gun-bearers. I reloaded the four-ounce immediately, and the ball was
just rammed home when we heard the supposed dead elephant roaring on
the ground. In another moment he regained his legs and stood with his
broadside exposed to us, stunned with the heavy ball in his head.
Taking a steady shot at his shoulder, I gave him a second dose of the
four-ounce; he reeled to and fro and staggered into the jungle. I dared
not follow him in my crippled state, and we returned to the horses; but
the next day he was found dead by the natives.

I much feared that the shot fired might have disturbed the herd of
elephants, as they were reported to be not far distant; this, however,
proved not to be the case, as we met the watchers about a mile farther
on, who reported the herd to be perfectly undisturbed, but located in
the everlasting lemon grass. At this time the greater portion of the
Park was a mass of this abominable grass, and there was no chance of
getting the elephants in any other position, this serving them at the
same time for both food and shelter. How they can eat it is a puzzle; it
is as sharp as a knife, and as coarse as a file, with a flavour of the
most pungent lemon peel.

We shortly arrived at the spot in which the herd was concealed; it was a
gentle slope covered with dense lemon grass, terminated by a jungle.
We could just distinguish the tops of the elephants' heads in several
places, and, having dismounted, we carefully entered the grass, and
crept towards the nearest elephants. The herd was much scattered, but
there were five elephants close to each other, and we made towards
these, Banda leading the way. My only chance of making a bag lay in the
first onset; I therefore cautioned Wallace to have the spare guns
handed with extra diligence, and we crept up to our game. There were two
elephants facing us, but we stalked them so carefully through the high
grass that we got within four paces of them before they discovered us;
they cocked their ears for an instant, and both rolled over at the same
moment to the front shot. Away dashed the herd, trumpeting and screaming
as they rushed through the high grass. For a few moments my game leg
grew quite lively, as it was all downhill work, and I caught up an
elephant and killed him with the left-hand barrel. Getting a spare gun,
I was lucky enough to get between two elephants who were running abreast
towards the jungle, and I bagged them by a right and left shot. Off
went the herd at a slapping pace through the jungle, V. pitching it into
them, but unfortunately to very little purpose, as they had closed up
and formed a barrier of sterns; thus we could not get a good shot. For
about a quarter of a mile I managed to hobble along, carried away by
the excitement of the chase, through jungles, hollows, and small glades,
till my leg, which had lost all feeling, suddenly gave way, and I lay
sprawling on my face, incapable of going a step farther. I had killed
four elephants; six had been killed altogether. It was very bad luck, as
the herd consisted of eleven; but the ground was very unfavourable, and
my leg gave way when it was most required.

A few days after this, the tents were pitched on the banks of the broad
river of Pattapalaar, about eight miles beyond Nielgalla. Elephants were
very scarce, and the only chance of getting them, was to work hard. We
were on horseback at break of day, and having forded the river, we rode
silently through plain and forest in search of tracks. We refused every
shot at deer, lest we should disturb the country, and scare away the
elephants.

We had ridden for some distance upon an elephant path, through a
tolerably open forest at the foot of a range of rocky mountains, when
Banda, who was some paces in advance, suddenly sprang back again,
crying, 'Wallaha! wallaha!' (Bears! bears!) We were off our horses in a
moment, but I fell sprawling upon my back, my leg being so powerless
and numbed that I could not feel when I touched the ground. I recovered
myself just in time to see a bear waddling along through the jungle, and
I pushed after him in pursuit at my best pace. V. had disappeared in the
jungle in pursuit of another bear, and I presently heard two or three
shots. In the meantime my game had slackened speed to a careless kind of
swaggering walk; and the underwood being rather thick, I was determined
to get close to him before I fired, as I knew that I could not follow
him far, and my success would therefore depend upon the first shot. I
overtook him in a few moments, and I was following within a foot of his
tail, waiting for a chance for a clear shot between his shoulders,
as the thick underwood parted above his back, when he suddenly sprang
round, and with a fierce roar, he leaped upon the muzzle of the gun. I
fired both barrels into him as he threw his whole weight against it, and
I rolled him over in a confused cloud of smoke and crackling bushes.
In a moment he was on his legs again, but going off through the thick
underwood at a pace that in my helpless state soon left me far behind.
His state must have been far from enviable, as he left portions of his
entrails all along his track. V. had killed his bear; he weighed about
two hundred pounds, and measured fourteen inches round the arm, without
his hide.

The Ceylon bear is a most savage animal, constantly attacking men
without the slightest provocation. I have seen many natives frightfully
disfigured by the attacks of bears, which they dread more than any other
animal. Nothing would induce my trackers to follow up the wounded beast.
I followed him as far as I could, but my useless limb soon gave way,
and I was obliged to give him up. I once saw a Moorman, who was a fine
powerful fellow and an excellent elephant-tracker, who had a narrow
escape from a bear. He was cutting bamboos with a catty or kind of
bill-hook, when one of these animals descended from a tree just above
him and immediately attacked him. The man instinctively threw his left
arm forward to receive the bear, who seized it in his mouth and bit the
thumb completely off, lacerating the arm and wrist at the same time in
a frightful manner. With one blow of the bill-hook the Moorman cleft the
bear's skull to the teeth, at the same time gashing his own arm to the
bone by the force of the blow; and he never afterwards recovered the
proper use of the limb.

The Ceylon bear feeds upon almost anything that offers; he eats honey,
ants, fruit, roots, and flesh whenever he can procure it: his muscular
power is enormous, and he exerts both teeth and claws in his attack.
They are very numerous in Ceylon, although they are seldom met with in
any number, owing to their nocturnal habits, which attract them to their
caves at break of day.

After strolling over the country for some miles, we came upon fresh
elephant-tracks in high grass, which we immediately followed up. In the
course of half an hour, after tracking them for about two miles through
open country, we entered a fine forest, in which the herd had retired;
but our hopes of meeting them in this favourable ground were suddenly
damped by arriving at a dense chenar jungle in the very heart of the
forest. This chenar extended for some acres, and rose like a hedge,
forming a sudden wall of thorns, which effectually checked our advance.
The elephants had retired to this secure retreat, and having winded
us they kept up an uninterrupted roaring. I never heard such a musical
herd: the deep and thunder-like growls, combined with the shrill trumpet
and loud roars, as they all joined in concert, had a particularly grand
effect, and a novice in elephant-shooting would have felt his heart beat
in double time.

There was a rogue consorting with this herd, and it was necessary to
be particularly cautious in the attack. It was impossible to enter such
thick jungle, and I've waited for some hours in the forest, close to
the edge of the chenar, trying every dodge in vain to induce the herd to
quit their stronghold. They were continually on the QUI VIVE. Sometimes
a tremendous rush would be heard in the thick jungle as the herd would
charge towards us; but they invariably stopped just upon the borders,
and would not venture into the open forest. On one occasion I thought
we had them: they rushed to the edge of the thick jungle, and suddenly
filed off to the left and halted in a line within a few feet of the
forest. We were within six paces of them, concealed behind the trunks of
several large trees, from which we could discover the dim forms of six
elephants through the screen of thorns, which had a similar effect to
that produced by looking through a gauze veil. For some moments they
stood in an attitude of intense attention, and I momentarily expected
them to break cover, as we were perfectly still and motionless in our
concealed position. Suddenly they winded us, and whisked round to the
thick jungle, disappearing like magic.

We now tried the effect of bullying, and we sent men to different parts
of the jungle to shout and fire guns; this stirred up the wrath of the
rogue, and he suddenly burst from the thick jungle and rushed into the
open forest right among us. We were both standing behind the trees; and
the gun-bearers, with the exception of Wallace, had thrown the guns down
and had bolted up the trees when they heard the rush of the elephant
through the jungle; thus, upon his arrival in the open forest, he could
see no one, and he stood gazing about him with his ears cocked and tail
on end, not knowing exactly what to do, but ready to charge the first
person that showed himself. He was an immense elephant, being one of the
largest that I have ever seen, and he had as fine an expression of vice
in his appearance as any rogue could wish for. Suddenly he turned his
trunk towards us, but he was puzzled as to the exact position of any
one, as so many men were scattered among the trees. I was within twenty
yards of him, and he turned his head towards the spot, and was just on
the move forward, when I anticipated his intentions by running up to
him and knocking him over by a shot in the forehead, which killed him.
Unfortunately the herd at the same moment broke cover on the opposite
side of the jungle, and escaped without a shot being fired at them. It
was nearly dusk, and we were five miles from the tent; we were therefore
obliged to give them up.

The next morning, at daybreak, I rode out with the greyhounds, Killbuck,
Bran and Lena, to kill a deer. The lemon grass was so high at this
season that the dogs had no chance, and I was therefore compelled to
pick out some spot which was free from this grass, and employ beaters to
drive the jungles, instead of stalking the deer in the usual manner.
I tracked a herd of deer into a large detached piece of cover, and,
sending the beaters round to the opposite side, I posted myself with the
greyhounds in the slips behind a clump of trees, upon a small plain of
low, soft grass.

The noise of the beaters approached nearer and nearer, and presently two
splendid bucks with beautiful antlers rushed from the jungle about
two hundred yards from me, and scudded over the plain. I slipped the
greyhounds, and away they went in full fly, bounding over the soft turf
in grand style.

Mounting old Jack, who was standing at my elbow, and giving him the
spur, I rode after them. It was a splendid course; the two bucks
separated, Bran and Lena taking after one, and Killbuck following the
other in his usual dashing manner. Away they went with wonderful speed,
the bucks constantly doubling to throw the dogs out; but Killbuck never
overshot his game, and as the buck doubled, he was round after him in
fine style. I now followed him, leaving Bran and Lena to do their best,
and at a killing pace we crossed the plain--through a narrow belt of
trees, down a stony hollow, over another plain, through a small
jungle, on entering which Killbuck was within a few yards of the buck's
haunches.

Now, old Jack is as fond of the sport as I am, and he kept up the chase
in good style; but just as we were flying through some high lemon grass,
a fallen tree, which was concealed beneath, tripped up the horse's
fore legs, and in an instant he was on his nose, turning a complete
somersault. I was pitched some yards, and upon instinctively mounting
again, the sparks were dancing in my eyes for some seconds before I
recovered myself, as we continued the chase with unabated speed.

We pressed along up some rising ground, having lost sight of the game;
and as we reached the top of the hill I looked around and saw the buck
at bay about a hundred paces from me, upon fine level ground, fighting
face to face with the dog, who sprang boldly at his head. That buck was
a noble fellow; he rushed at the dog, and they met like knights in a
tournament; but it was murderous work; he received the reckless hound
upon his sharp antlers and bored him to the ground. In another instant
Killbuck had recovered himself, and he again came in full fly at the
buck's face with wonderful courage; again the buck rushed forward to
meet him, and once more the pointed antlers pinned the dog, and the
buck, following up his charge, rolled him over and over for some yards.

By this time I had galloped up, and I was within a few feet of the buck,
when he suddenly sprang round with the evident intention of charging the
horse. In the same moment Killbuck seized the opportunity, and the buck
plunged violently upon the ground, with the staunch dog hanging upon his
throat. I, jumped off my horse, and the buck fell dead by a thrust with
the knife behind the shoulder.

I now examined the dog; he was wounded in several places, but as he bled
but little, I hoped that his apparent exhaustion arose more from the
fatigue of the fight than from any severe injury.

At this time Bran and Lena came up; they had lost their deer in some
high lemon grass, but they also were both wounded by the buck's horns.
I now put Killbuck and Lena together in the slips, and with the buck,
carried upon cross-poles by six men, I rode towards the tent. I had
not proceeded far when the man who was leading the greyhounds behind my
horse suddenly cried out, and on turning round I saw Killbuck lying on
the ground. I was at his side in a moment, and I released his neck
from the slips. It was too late; his languid head fell heavily upon the
earth; he gave me one parting look, and after a few faint gasps he was
gone.

I could hardly believe he was dead. Taking off my cap, I ran to a little
stream and brought some water, which I threw in his face; but his teeth
were set, his eyes were glazed, and the best and truest dog that was
ever born was dead. Poor Killbuck! he had died like a hero, and though I
grieved over him, I could not have wished him a more glorious death.

I was obliged to open him to discover the real injury. I had little
thought that the knife which had so often come to his assistance was
destined to so sad a task. His lungs were pierced through by the deer's
horns in two places, and he had died of sudden suffocation by internal
haemorrhage. A large hollow tree grew close to the spot; in this I
buried him. The stag's antlers now hang in the hall, a melancholy but
glorious memento of poor Killbuck.

In a few days my leg had so much improved that I could again use it
without much inconvenience; I therefore determined to pay the cave a
visit, as I felt convinced that elephants would be more numerous in that
neighbourhood. We started in the cool of the afternoon, as the distance
was not more than eight miles from our encampment. We had proceeded
about half-way, and our horses were picking their way with difficulty
over some rocky hills, when we came upon fresh tracks of a herd of
elephants. It was too late to go after them that evening; we therefore
pitched the tent upon the spot, resolving to track them up at daybreak
on the following morning.

We were accordingly out before sunrise, and came upon the tracks within
a mile of the tent. We at length discovered the herd upon the summit of
a steep rocky hill. There were no trees in this part, and we carefully
ascended the hill, stepping from rock to rock and occasionally
concealing ourselves in the high grass, till we at length stood at
the very feet of the elephants, two of whom were standing upon a large
platform of rock, about seven feet above us. They were so high above us
that I was obliged to aim about four inches down the trunk, so that the
ball should reach the brain in an upward direction; this shot proved
successful, and killed him. V., who had not taken this precaution,
missed; and the whole herd of eight elephants started off in full
retreat.

The rocks were so steep that it occupied some time in climbing over the
top of the hill; upon reaching which, we saw the elephants going off
at great speed, with a start of about two hundred paces. The ground was
perfectly open, covered by small loose rocks free from grass, and the
chase commenced in good earnest. With the elephants in view the whole
time, and going at a great pace, a mile was run without the possibility
of firing a shot. By this time we had arrived at an undulating country
covered with small rocks, and grass about four feet high, which made the
pace dreadfully fatiguing; still we dared not slacken the speed for an
instant lest the elephants should distance us. This was the time for
rifles to tell, although their weight (15 lbs.) was rather trying in so
long and fast a run. I was within eighty paces of the herd, and I could
not decrease the distance by a single yard. I halted and took a shot
at the ear of a large elephant in the middle of the herd. The shot so
stunned him that, instead of going on straight, he kept turning round
and round as though running after his tail; this threw the herd into
confusion, and some ran to the right and others to the left, across some
steep hollows. Running up to my wounded elephant, I extinguished him
with my remaining barrel; and getting a spare rifle from Wallace, who
was the only gun-bearer who had kept up, I floored another elephant, who
was ascending the opposite side of a hollow about forty yards off: this
fellow took two shots, and accordingly I was left unloaded. V. had made
good play with the rifles as the herd was crossing the hollow, and he
had killed three, making six bagged in all. The remaining two elephants
reached a thick jungle and escaped.

We returned to the tent, and after a bath we sat down with a glorious
appetite to breakfast, having bagged six elephants before seven o'clock
A.M.

In the afternoon we went to the cave and sent out trackers. We were
very hard up for provisions in this place: there were no deer in the
neighbourhood, and we lived upon squirrels and parrots, both of which
are excellent eating, but not very substantial fare.

The whole of this part of the country was one dark mass of high lemon
grass, which, not having been burnt, was a tangled mixture of yellow
stalks and sharp blades, that completely destroyed the pleasure of
shooting.

In this unfavourable ground we found a herd of ten elephants, and
after waiting for some time in the hope of their feeding into a better
country, we lost all patience and resolved to go in at them and do the
best we could. It was late in the afternoon, and the herd, who were well
aware of our position, had all closed up in a dense body, and with
their trunks thrown up they were trumpeting and screaming as though to
challenge us to the attack.

Pushing our way through the high grass, we got within six paces of the
elephants before they attempted to turn, and the heavy battery opened
upon them in fine style. Levelling the grass in their path, they rushed
through it in a headlong retreat, V. keeping on one flank, while I took
the other; and a race commenced, which continued for about half a mile
at full speed, the greater part of this distance being up hill. None of
these elephants proved restive; and on arriving at thick jungle two only
entered out of the ten that had composed the herd; the remaining eight
lay here and there along the line of the hunt.

Out of four herds and three rogues fired at we had bagged thirty-one
elephants in a few days' shooting. My mishap on the first day had much
destroyed the pleasure of the sport, as the exercise was too much for my
wounded leg, which did not recover from the feeling of numbness for some
months.



CHAPTER XI.

Excitement of Elephant-shooting--An Unexpected Visitor--A Long Run
with a Buck--Hard Work Rewarded--A Glorious Bay--End of a Hard Day's
Work--Bee-hunters--Disasters of Elk-hunting--Bran Wounded--'Old Smut's'
Buck--Boar at Hackgalla--Death of 'Old Smut'--Scenery from the Perewelle
Mountains--Diabolical Death of 'Merriman'--Scene of the Murder.

In describing so many incidents in elephant-shooting it is difficult to
convey a just idea of the true grandeur of the sport: it reads too easy.
A certain number are killed out of a herd after an animated chase, and
the description of the hunt details the amount of slaughter, but cannot
possibly explain the peculiar excitement which attends elephant-shooting
beyond all other sports. The size of the animal is so disproportionate
to that of the hunter that the effect of a large herd of these monsters
flying before a single man would be almost ridiculous could the chase be
witnessed by some casual observer who was proof against the excitement
of the sport. The effect of a really good elephant shot in the pursuit
of a herd over open country is very fine. With such weapons as the
double-barrelled No. 10 rifles a shot is seldom wasted; and during the
chase, an elephant drops from the herd at every puff of smoke. It is a
curious sight, and one of the grandest in the world, to see a fine rogue
elephant knocked over in full charge. His onset appears so irresistible,
and the majesty of his form so overwhelming, that I have frequently
almost mistrusted the power of man over such a beast; but one shot well
placed, with a heavy charge of powder behind the ball, reduces him in an
instant to a mere heap of flesh.

One of the most disgusting sights is a dead elephant four or five
days after the fatal shot. In a tropical climate, where decomposition
proceeds with such wonderful rapidity, the effect of the sun upon such a
mass can be readily understood. The gas generated in the inside distends
the carcass to an enormous size, until it at length bursts and becomes
in a few hours afterwards one living heap of maggots. Three weeks after
an elephant is killed, nothing remains but his bones and a small heap of
dried cases, from which the flies have emerged when the time arrived for
them to change from the form of maggots. The sight of the largest of the
animal creation being thus reduced from life to nothingness within
so short a space of time is an instance of the perishable tenure of
mortality which cannot fail to strike the most unthinking. The majesty,
the power, and the sagacity of the enormous beast are scattered in the
myriads of flies which have fed upon him.

It is a delightful change after a sporting trip of a few weeks in the
hot climates to return again to the cool and even temperature of Newera
Ellia. The tent is a pleasant dwelling when no other can be obtained,
but the comfort of a good house is never so much appreciated as on the
return from the jungle.

One great pleasure in the hunting at Newera Ellia is the ease with which
it is obtained. In fact, the sport lies at the very door. This may be
said to be literally true and not a facon de parler, as I once killed an
elk that jumped through a window. It was a singular incident. The hounds
found three elk at the same time on the mountain at the back of the
hotel at Newera Ellia. The pack divided: several hounds were lost for
two days, having taken their elk to an impossible country, and the rest
of the pack concentrated upon a doe, with the exception of old Smut,
who had another elk all to himself. This elk, which was a large doe, he
brought down from the top of the mountain to the back of the hotel,
just as we had killed the other, which the pack had brought to the same
place. A great number of persons were standing in the hotel yard to
view the sport, when old Smut and his game appeared, rushing in full
fly through the crowd. The elk was so bothered and headed that she went
through the back door of the hotel at full gallop, and Smut, with his
characteristic sagacity, immediately bolted round to the front of the
house, naturally concluding that if she went in at the back door she
must come out at the front. He was perfectly right; the old dog stood on
the lawn before the hotel, watching the house with great eagerness.
In the meantime the elk was galloping from room to room in the hotel,
chased by a crowd of people, until she at length took refuge in a lady's
bedroom, from which there was no exit, as the window was closed. The
crash of glass may be imagined as an animal as large as a pony leaped
through it; but old Smut was ready for her, and after a chase of a few
yards he pulled her down. This is the only instance that I have ever
known of an elk entering a building, although it is a common occurrence
with hunted deer in England. An elk found on the top of Pedro talla
Galla, which rises from the plain of Newera Ellia, will generally run
straight down the mountain, and, unless headed, he will frequently come
to bay in the river close to the hotel, which is situated at the foot of
the mountain. This, however, is not a rule without an exception, as the
elk on some occasions takes a totally different direction, and gives a
hard day's work. It was on July 27, 1852, that I had a run of this kind.
It was six A.M. when my youngest brother and I started from the foot
of Pedro to ascend the mountain. The path is three miles long, through
jungle the whole way to the summit. There were fresh tracks of elk near
the top of the mountain; the dew lay heavily upon the leaves, and the
scent was evidently strong, as Merriman and Ploughboy, the two leading
hounds, dashed off upon it, followed by the whole pack. In a few minutes
we heard them in full cry about a quarter of a mile from us, going
straight down the hill. Giving them a good holloa, we started off down
the path at a round pace, and in less than a quarter of an hour we were
at the foot of the mountain on the plain. Here we found a number of
people who had headed the elk (a fine buck) just as he was breaking
cover, and he had turned back, taking off to some other line of country
at a great pace, as we could not hear even a whimper. This was enough
to make a saint swear, and, blessing heartily the fellows who had headed
him, we turned back and retraced our steps up the mountain to listen for
the cry of the pack among the numerous ravines which furrow the sides.

It was of no use; we could hear nothing but the mocking chirp of birds
and the roaring of the mountain torrents. Not a sign of elk or dogs.
The greyhounds were away with the pack, and knowing that the dogs would
never leave him till dark, we determined not to give them up. No less
than three times in the course of the day did we reascend the mountain
to listen for them in vain. We went up to the top of the Newera Ellia
Pass, in the hope of hearing them in that direction, but with the same
want of success. Miles of ground were gone over to no purpose. Scaling
the steep sides of the mountains at the back of the barracks, we
listened among the deep hollows on the other side, but again we were
disappointed; the sound of the torrents was all that we could hear.

Descending again to the plain, we procured some breakfast at a friend's
house, and we started for the Matturatta Plains. These plains are about
three or four miles from the barracks; and I had a faint hope that the
buck might have crossed over the mountain, and descended into this
part of the country to a river which flows through the patinas. We now
mounted our horses, having been on foot all the morning. It was three
o'clock P.M., and, with little hope of finding the dogs, we rode along
the path towards the Matturatta Plains.

We had just entered the forest, when we met a young hound returning
along the path with a wound from a buck's horn in the shoulder. There
was now no doubt of the direction, and we galloped along the path
towards the plains as hard as we could go. About half way to the plains,
to my joy I saw an immense buck's track in the path going in the same
direction; the toes were spread wide apart, showing the pace at which he
had been going; and there were dogs' tracks following him, all as fresh
as could be. This was a gladdening sight after a hard day's work, and we
gave a random cheer to encourage any dogs that might be within hearing,
rattling our horses over the ground at their best speed.

At last the plains were reached. We pulled up our panting steeds, and
strained every nerve to hear the cry of the hounds. The snorting of the
horses prevented our hearing any distant sound, and I gave a holloa and
listened for some answering voice from a dog. Instead of a sound, Bran
and Lucifer suddenly appeared. This was conclusive evidence that the
pack was somewhere in this direction, and we rode out into the plain and
again listened. Hark to old Smut! there was his deep voice echoing from
the opposite hills. Yoick to him, Bran! forward to him, Lucifer!
and away the greyhounds dashed towards the spot from which the sound
proceeded. The plain forms a wide valley, with a river winding through
the centre, and we galloped over the patinas after the greyhounds in
full speed. There was no mistaking the bay. I could now distinguish
Merriman's fine voice in addition to that of old Smut, and a general
chorus of other tongues joined in, till the woods rang again. The horses
knew the sport, and away they went, but suddenly over went old Jack,
belly-deep in a bog, and sent me flying over his head. There is nothing
like companionship in an accident, and Momus accordingly pitched upon
his nose in the same bog, my brother describing a fine spread-eagle as
he sprawled in the soft ground, We were close to the bay; the horses
extricated themselves directly, and again mounting we rode hard to the
spot

The buck was at bay in the river, and the exhausted dogs were yelling at
him from the bank. The instant that we arrived and cheered them on,
old Smut came from the pack towards us with an expression of perfect
delight; he gave himself two or three rolls on the grass, and then went
to the fight like a lion. The buck, however, suddenly astonished the
whole pack by jumping out of the river, and, charging right through
them, he started over the plain towards the jungle, with the hounds
after him. He had refreshed himself by standing for so long in the
cold stream, while the dogs, on the contrary, were nearly worn out. He
reached the jungle with the whole pack at his heels; but after doubling
backward and forward in the forest for about five minutes, we heard the
crash in the bushes as he once more rushed towards the plain, and he
broke cover in fine style, with the three greyhounds, Bran, Lucifer and
Lena, at his haunches. In another instant he was seized, but he fell
with such a shock that it threw the greyhounds from their hold, and
recovering himself with wonderful quickness, he went down the slope
towards the river at a tremendous pace. The greyhounds overtook him just
as he gained the steep bank of the river, and they all rolled over in a
confused crowd into the deep water.

The next moment the buck was seen swimming proudly down the river, with
the pack following him down the stream in full cry. Presently he gained
his footing, and, disdaining farther flight, he turned bravely upon the
hounds.

He was a splendid fellow; his nostrils were distended, his mane was
bristled up, and his eyes flashed, as, rearing to his full height, he
plunged forward and struck the leading dogs under the water. Not a
dog could touch him; one by one they were beaten down and half-drowned
beneath the water. Old Smut was to the front as usual: down the old dog
was beaten, but he reappeared behind the elk's shoulder, and the next
moment he was hanging on his ear. The poor old dog had lost so many of
his teeth in these encounters that he could not keep his hold, and
the buck gave a tremendous spring forward, shaking off the old dog and
charging through the pack, sinking nearly half of them for a few moments
beneath the water. He had too much pluck to fly farther, and, after
wading shoulder-deep against the stream for a few yards, he turned
majestically round, and, facing the baying pack, he seemed determined
to do or die. I never saw a finer animal; there was a proud look of
defiance in his aspect that gave him a most noble appearance; but at
that time he had little pity bestowed upon him.

There he stood ready to meet the first dog. Old Smut had been thrown
to the rear as the buck turned, and Lena came beautifully to the front,
leading the whole pack. There was a shallow sandbank in the river where
the bitch could get a footing, and she dashed across it to the attack.
The buck met her in her-advance by a sudden charge, which knocked her
over and over, but at the same instant Valiant, who is a fine, powerful
dog, made a clever spring forward and pinned the buck by the ear. There
was no shaking him off, and he was immediately backed up by Ploughboy,
who caught the other ear most cleverly. There the two dogs hung like
ear-rings as the buck, rearing up, swung them to and fro, but could not
break their hold. In another moment the greyhounds were upon him-the
whole pack covered him; his beautiful form was seen alternately rearing
from the water with the dogs hanging upon him in all directions, then
struggling in a confused mass nearly beneath the surface of the stream.
He was a brave fellow, and had fought nobly, but there was no hope for
him, and we put an end to the fight with the hunting-knife.

It was past four o'clock P.M., and he had been found at seven A.M., but
the conclusion fully repaid us for the day's work. The actual distance
run by the buck was not above eight miles, but we had gone about twenty
during the day, the greater portion of which was over most fatiguing
ground.

On an open country an elk would never be caught without greyhounds until
he had run fifteen or twenty miles. The dense jungles fatigue him as he
ploughs his way through them, and thus forms a path for the dogs behind
him. How he can move in some of these jungles is an enigma; a horse
would break his legs, and, in fact, could not stir in places through
which an elk passes in full gallop.

The principal underwood in the mountain districts of Ceylon is the
'nillho.' This is a perfectly straight stem, from twelve to twenty feet
in length, and about an inch and a half in diameter, having no branches
except a few small arms at the top, which are covered with large leaves.
This plant, in proportion to its size, grows as close as corn in a
field, and forms a dense jungle most difficult to penetrate. When the
jungles are in this state, the elk is at a disadvantage, as the immense
exertion required to break his way through this mass soon fatigues him,
and forces him to come to bay.

Every seven years this 'nillho' blossoms. The jungles are then neither
more nor less than vast bouquets of bright purple and white flowers; the
perfume is delicious, and swarms of bees migrate from other countries
to make their harvest of honey. The quantity collected is extraordinary.
The bee-hunters start from the low country, and spend weeks in the
jungle in collecting the honey and wax. When looking over an immense
tract of forest from some elevated point, the thin blue lines of
smoke may be seen rising in many directions, marking the sites of the
bee-hunters fires. Their method of taking the honey is simple enough.
The bees' nests hang from the boughs of the trees, and a man ascends
with a torch of green leaves, which creates a dense smoke. He approaches
the nest and smokes off the swarm, which, on quitting the exterior of
the comb, exposes a beautiful circular mass of honey and wax, generally
about eighteen inches in diameter and six inches thick. The bee-hunter
being provided with vessels formed from the rind of the gourd attached
to ropes, now cuts up the comb and fills his chatties, lowering them
down to his companions below.

When the blossom of the nillho fades, the seed forms; this is a sweet
little kernel, with the flavour of a nut. The bees now leave the
country, and the jungles suddenly swarm, as though by magic, with
pigeons, jungle-fowl, and rats. At length the seed is shed and the
nillho dies.

The jungles then have a curious appearance. The underwood being dead,
the forest-trees rise from a mass of dry sticks like thin hop-poles.
The roots of these plants very soon decay, and a few weeks of high wind,
howling through the forest, levels the whole mass, leaving the trees
standing free from underwood. The appearance of the ground can now be
imagined-a perfect chaos of dead sticks and poles, piled one on the
other, in every direction, to a depth of between two and three feet.
It can only be compared to a mass of hurdles being laid in a heap. The
young nillho grows rapidly through this, concealing the mass of dead
sticks beneath, and forms a tangled barrier which checks both dogs and
man. With tough gaiters to guard the shins, we break through by main
force and weight, and the dogs scramble sometimes over, sometimes under
the surface. At this period the elk are in great numbers, as they feed
with great avidity upon the succulent young nillho. The dogs are now at
a disadvantage. While they are scrambling with difficulty through this
mass of half-rotten sticks, the elk bounds over it with ease, leaving no
path behind him, as he clears it by leaps, and does not exhaust himself
by bursting through it. He now constantly escapes, and leaves the pack
miles behind; the best hounds follow him, but with such a start he leads
them into the unknown depths of the jungles, over high mountains and
across deep ravines, from which the lost dogs frequently never return.

There can be no question that it is a bad country for hunting at all
times, as the mass of forest is so disproportionate to the patinas; but,
on the other hand, were the forests of smaller size there would be
less game. Elk-hunting is, on the whole, fine sport. There are many
disappointments constantly occurring, but these must happen in all
sports. The only important drawback to the pleasure of elk-hunting is
the constant loss of the dogs. The best are always sure to go. What
with deaths by boars, leopards, elk, and stray hounds, the pack is with
difficulty maintained. Puppies are constantly lost in the commencement
of their training by straying too far into the jungle, and sometimes by
reckless valour. I lost a fine young greyhound, Lancer, own brother to
Lucifer, in this way. It was his first day with the pack.

We found a buck who came to bay in a deep rocky torrent, where the dogs
had no chance with him, and he amused himself by striking them under
water at his pleasure. He at length took his stand among some large
rocks, between which the torrent rushed with great rapidity previous to
its descent over a fall of sixty feet.

In this impregnable position young Lancer chose to distinguish himself,
and with a beautiful spring he flew straight at the buck's head; but the
elk met him with a tremendous blow with the fore feet, which broke his
back, and the unfortunate Lancer was killed in his first essay and swept
over the waterfall. This buck was at bay for two hours before he was
killed.

A veteran seizer is generally seamed with innumerable scars. Poor old
Bran, who, being a thoroughbred greyhound, is too fine in the skin for
such rough hunting, has been sewn up in so many places that he is a
complete specimen of needlework. If any dog is hurt in a fight with elk
or boar, it is sure to be old Bran. He has now a scar from a wound that
was seven inches in length, which he received from a buck whose horns
are hanging over my door.

I had started with the pack at daybreak, and I was riding down the
Badulla road, about a mile from the kennel, when the whole pack suddenly
took up a scent off the road, and dashed into the jungle in full cry.
The road was enclosed by forest on either side. The pack had evidently
divided upon two elk, as they were running in different directions.

Starting off down the pass, I soon reached the steep patinas, and I
heard the pack coming down through the jungle which crowns the hills on
the left of the road. There was a crush in the underwood, and the
next moment a fine buck broke cover and went away along the hillside.
Merriman and Tiptoe were the two leading dogs, and they were not fifty
yards behind him. Old smut came tearing along after them, and I gave
Bran a holloa and slipped him immediately. It was a beautiful sight
to see Bran fly along the patina: across the swampy bottom, taking
the broad stream in one bound, and skimming up the hill, he was on the
buck's path in a few minutes, pulling up to him at every stride. He
passed the few dogs that were in chase like lightning, and in a few more
bounds he was at the buck's side. With a dexterous blow, however, the
buck struck him with his fore foot, and sent him rolling down the hill
with a frightful gash in his side. The buck immediately descended the
hillside, and came to bay in a deep pool in the river. Regardless of his
wound, old Bran followed him; Smut and the other dogs joined, and there
was a fine bay, the buck fighting like a hero. The dogs could not touch
him, as he was particularly active with his antlers.

I jumped into the water and gave them a cheer, on which the buck
answered immediately by charging at me. I met him with the point of my
hunting-knife in the nose, which stopped him, and in the same moment old
Smut was hanging on his ear, having pinned him the instant that I had
occupied his attention. Bran had the other ear just as I had given him
the fatal thrust. In a few seconds the struggle was over. Bran's wound
was four inches wide and seven inches long.

My brother had a pretty run with the doe with the other half of the
pack, and we returned home by eight A.M., having killed two elk.

Daybreak is the proper time to be upon the ground for elk-hunting. At
this hour they have only just retired to the jungle after their night's
wandering on the patinas, and the hounds take up a fresh scent, and save
the huntsman the trouble of entering the jungle. At a later hour the elk
have retired so far into the jungle that much time is lost in finding
them, and they are not so likely to break cover as when they are just on
the edge of the forest. I had overslept myself one morning when I
ought to have been particularly early, as we intended to hunt at the
Matturatta Plains, a distance of six miles. The scent was bad, and the
sun was excessively hot; the dogs were tired and languid. It was two
o'clock P.M., and we had not found, and we were returning through the
forest homewards, having made up our minds for a blank day.

Suddenly I thought I heard a deep voice at a great distance; it might
have been fancy, but I listened again. I counted the dogs, and old Smut
was missing. There was no mistaking his voice when at bay, and I now
heard him distinctly in the distance. Running towards the sound through
fine open forests, we soon arrived on the Matturatta Plains. The whole
pack now heard the old dog distinctly, and they rushed to the sound
across the patinas. There was Smut, sure enough, with a fine buck at bay
in the river, which he had found and brought to bay single-handed.

The instant that the pack joined him, the buck broke his bay, and,
leaping up the bank, he gave a beautiful run over the patinas, with the
whole pack after him, and Bran a hundred paces in advance of the other
dogs, pulling up to him with murderous intent. Just as I thought that
Bran would have him, a sudden kick threw the dog over, but he quickly
recovered himself, and again came to the front, and this time he seized
the buck by the ear, but, this giving way, he lost his hold and again
was kicked over. This had checked the elk's speed for some seconds, and
the other dogs were fast closing up, seeing which, the buck immediately
altered his course for the river, and took to water in a deep pool.
Down came old Smut after him, and in a few moments there was a beautiful
chorus, as the whole pack had him at bay.

The river went through a deep gorge, and I was obliged to sit down and
slide for about thirty yards, checking a too rapid descent by holding
on to the rank grass. On arriving at the river, I could at first see
nothing for the high grass and bushes which grew upon the bank, but the
din of the bay was just below me. Sliding through the tangled underwood,
I dropped into deep water, and found myself swimming about with the buck
and dogs around me. Smut and Bran had him by the ears, and a thrust with
the knife finished him.

However great the excitement may be during the actual hunting, there
is a degree of monotony in the recital of so many scenes of the same
character that may be fatiguing: I shall therefore close the description
of these mountain sports with the death of the old hero Smut, and the
loss of the best hound, Merriman, both of whom have left a blank in the
pack not easily filled.

On October 16, 1852, I started with a very short pack. Lucifer was left
in the kennel lame; Lena was at home with her pups; and several other
dogs were sick. Smut and Bran were the only two seizers out that day,
and, being short-handed, I determined to hunt in the more green country
at the foot of Hackgalla mountain.

My brother and I entered the jungle with the dogs, and before we had
proceeded a hundred yards we heard a fierce bay, every dog having
joined. The bay was not a quarter of a mile distant, and we were puzzled
as to the character of the game: whatever it was, it had stood to bay
without a run. Returning to the patina, in which position we could
distinctly assure ourselves of the direction, we heard the bay broken,
and a slow run commenced. The next instant Bran came hobbling out of the
jungle covered with blood, which streamed from a frightful gash in his
hind-quarters. There was no more doubt remaining as to the game at bay;
I it was an enormous boar.

Bran was completely HORS DE COMBAT; and Smut, having lost nearly all his
teeth, was of no use singlehanded with such an enemy. We had no seizers
to depend upon, and the boar again stood to bay in a thick jungle.

I happened to have a rifle with me that morning, as I had noticed fresh
elephant-tracks in the neighbourhood a few days previous, and hoping
to be able to shoot the boar, we entered the jungle and approached the
scene of the bay.

When within twenty paces of the spot I heard his fierce grunting as he
charged right and left into the baying pack.* (*It was impossible to
call the hounds off their game; therefore the only chance lay in the
boar being seized, when I could have immediately rushed in with the
knife. It was thus necessary to cheer the pack to the attack, although
a cruel alternative.) In vain I cheered them on. I heard no signs of
his being seized, but the fierce barking of old Smut, mingled with the
savage grunts of the boar, and the occasional cry of a wounded dog,
explained the hopeless nature of the contest. Again I cheered them on,
and suddenly Smut came up to me from the fight, which was now not ten
paces distant, but perfectly concealed in thick bamboo underwood. The
old dog was covered with blood, his back was bristled up, and his deep
growl betokened his hopeless rage. Poor old dog! he had his death-wound.
He seemed cut nearly in half; a wound fourteen inches in length from
the lower part of the belly passed up his flank, completely severing the
muscle of the hind leg, and extending up to the spine. His hind leg had
the appearance of being nearly off, and he dragged it after him in its
powerless state, and, with a fierce bark, he rushed upon three legs once
more to the fight. Advancing to within six feet of the boar, I could not
even see him, both he and the dogs were so perfectly concealed by the
thick underwood. Suddenly the boar charged. I jumped upon a small rock
and hoped for a shot, but although he came within three feet of the
rifle, I could neither see him nor could he see me. Had it not been for
the fear of killing the dogs, I would have fired where the bushes were
moving, but as it was I could do nothing. A rifle was useless in such
jungle. At length the boar broke his bay, but again resumed it in a
similar secure position. There was no possibility of assisting the dogs,
and he was cutting up the pack in detail. If Lucifer and Lena had been
there we could have killed him, but without seizers we were helpless in
such jungle.

This lasted for an hour, at the expiration of which we managed to call
the dogs off. Old Smut had stuck to him to the last, in spite of his
disabled state. The old dog, perfectly exhausted, crawled out of the
jungle: he had received several additional wounds, including a severe
gash in his throat. He fell from exhaustion, and we made a litter
with two poles and a horsecloth to carry him home. Bran, Merriman, and
Ploughboy were all severely wounded. We were thoroughly beaten. It was
the first time that we had ever been beaten off, and I trust it may be
the last. We returned home with our vanquished and bleeding pack--Smut
borne in his litter by four men--and we arrived at the kennel a
melancholy procession. The pack was disabled for weeks, as the two
leading hounds, Merriman and Ploughboy, were severely injured.

Poor old Smut lingered for a few days and died. Thus closed his glorious
career of sport, and he left a fame behind him which will never be
forgotten. His son, who is now twelve months old, is the facsimile of
his sire, and often recalls the recollection of the old dog. I hope he
may turn out as good.* (*Killed four months afterwards by a buck elk.)

Misfortunes never come alone. A few weeks after Smut's death, Lizzie,
an excellent bitch, was killed by a leopard, who wounded Merriman in the
throat, but he being a powerful dog, beat him off and escaped. Merriman
had not long recovered from his wound, when he came to a lamentable and
diabolical end.

On December 24, 1852, we found a buck in the jungles by the Badulla
road. The dead nillho so retarded the pack that the elk got a long start
of the dogs; and stealing down a stream he broke cover, crossed the
Badulla road, ascended the opposite hills, and took to the jungle
before a single hound appeared upon the patina. At length Merriman came
bounding along upon his track, full a hundred yards in advance of the
pack. In a few minutes every dog had disappeared in the opposite jungle
on the elk's path.

This was a part of the country where we invariably lost the dogs, as
they took away across a vast jungle country towards a large and rapid
river situated among stupendous precipices. I had often endeavoured to
find the dogs in this part, but to no purpose; this day, however, I was
determined to follow them if possible. I made a circuit of about
twenty miles down into the low countries, and again ascending through
precipitous jungles, I returned home in the evening, having only
recovered two dogs, which I found on the other side of the range of
mountains, over which the buck had passed. No pen can describe the
beauty of the scenery in this part of the country, but it is the most
frightful locality for hunting that can be imagined. The high lands
suddenly cease; a splendid panoramic view of the low country extends
for thirty miles before the eye; but to descend to this, precipices of
immense depth must be passed; and from a deep gorge in the mountain, the
large river, after a succession of falls, leaps in one vast plunge of
three hundred feet into the abyss below. This is a stupendous cataract,
about a mile below the foot of which is the village of Perewelle. I
passed close to the village, and, having ascended the steep sides of the
mountain, I spent hours in searching for the pack, but the roaring of
the river and the din of the waterfalls would have drowned the cry of
a hundred hounds. Once, and only once, when halfway up the side of the
mountain, I thought I heard the deep bay of a hound in the river below;
then I heard the shout of a native; but the sound was not repeated, and
I thought it might proceed from the villagers driving their buffaloes.
I passed on my arduous path, little thinking of the tragic fate which at
that moment attended poor Merriman.

The next day all the dogs found their way home to the kennel, with the
exception of Merriman. I was rather anxious at his absence, as he knew
the whole country so thoroughly that he should have been one of the
first dogs to return. I was convinced that the buck had been at bay
in the large river, as I had seen his tracks in several places on the
banks, with dog tracks in company; this, added to the fact of the two
stray dogs being found in the vicinity, convinced me that they had
brought the elk to bay in the river, in which I imagined he had beaten
the dogs off. Two or three days passed away without Merriman's return;
and, knowing him to be the leading hound of the pack, I made up my mind
that he had been washed down a waterfall and killed.

About a week after this had happened, a native came up from the low
country with the intelligence that the dogs had brought the buck to bay
in the river close to the village of Perewelle, and that the inhabitants
had killed the elk and driven the dogs away. The remaining portion of
this man's story filled me with rage and horror. Merriman would not
leave the body of the elk: the natives thought that the dog might be
discovered in their village, which would lead to the detection of the
theft of the elk; they, therefore, tied this beautiful hound to a tree,
knocked his brains out with a hatchet, and threw his body into the
river. This dog was a favourite with everyone who knew the pack. The
very instant that I heard the intelligence, I took a good stick, and, in
company with my brother, three friends, and my informant, we started
to revenge Merriman. Perewelle is twelve miles from my house across
country: it was six P.M. when we started, and we arrived at a village
within two miles of this nest of villains at half-past eight. Here we
got further information, and a man who volunteered to point out three
men who were the principal actors in murdering the dog. We slept at
this village, and, rising at four o'clock on the following morning,
we marched towards Perewelle to surprise the village and capture the
offenders.

It was bright moonlight, and we arrived at the village just at break
of day. The house was pointed out in which the fellows lived; we
immediately surrounded it, and upon entering we seized the offenders.
Upon searching the house we found a quantity of dried venison, a spear
and an axe, covered with blood, with which they had destroyed the
unfortunate dog.

Taking a fine gutta-percha whip, I flogged the culprits soundly; and
we forced them to lead the way and point out the very spot of the elk's
death. They would not confess the dog's murder, although it was proved
against them.

It was a frightful spot, about two hundred paces below the foot of the
great fall. The river, swollen by the late rain, boiled, and strove with
the opposite rocks, lashing itself into foam, and roaring down
countless cataracts, which, though well worthy of the name, sank into
insignificance before the mighty fall which fed them. High above our
heads reared the rocky precipice of a thousand feet in height, the
grassy mountains capped with forest, and I could distinguish the very
spot from which I had heard the shouts of men on the day of Merriman's
death. Had I only known what was taking place below, I might perhaps
have been in time to save the dog.

We found the blood and remains of the offal of the buck, but we, of
course, saw no remains of the dog, as the power of the torrent must soon
have dashed him to atoms against the rocks.

Thus ended poor Merriman: a better hound never lived. Unfortunately,
Ceylon laws are often administered by persons who have never received a
legal education, and the natives escaped without further punishment than
the thrashing they had received. Of this, however, they had a full dose,
which was a sweet sauce to their venison which they little anticipated.

The few descriptions that I have given of elk-hunting should introduce a
stranger thoroughly to the sport. No one, however, can enjoy it with
as much interest as the owner of the hounds; he knows the character of
every dog in the pack--every voice is familiar to his ear; he cheers
them to the attack; he caresses them for their courage; they depend
upon him for assistance in the struggle, and they mutually succour
each other. This renders the dog a more cherished companion than he is
considered in England, where his qualities are not of so important a
nature; and it makes the loss of a good hound more deeply felt by his
master.

Having thus described the general character of Ceylon sports in all
branches, I shall conclude by a detailed journal of one trip of a few
weeks in the low country, which will at once explain the whole minutiae
of the shooting in the island. This journal is taken from a small diary
which has frequently accompanied me on these excursions, containing
little memoranda which, by many, might be considered tedious. The daily
account of the various incidents of a trip will, at all events, give a
faithful picture of the jungle sports.



CHAPTER XII.

A JUNGLE TRIP.

ON November 16, 1851 I started from Kandy, accompanied by my brother,
Lieutenant V. Baker,* (*Now Colonel Valentine Baler, late 10th Hussars.)
then of the Ceylon Rifle Regiment. Having sent on our horses from Newera
Ellia some days previous, as far as Matille, sixteen miles from Kandy,
we drove there early in the morning, and breakfasted with F. Layard,
Esq., who was then assistant government agent. It had rained without
ceasing during twenty-four hours, and hoping that the weather might
change, we waited at Matille till two o'clock P.M. The rain still poured
in torrents, and giving up all ideas of fine weather, we started.

The horses were brought round, and old Jack knew as well as I did that
he was starting for a trip, as the tether rope was wound round his neck,
and the horse-cloth was under his saddle. The old horse was sleek and
in fine condition for a journey, and, without further loss of time, we
started for Dambool, a distance of thirty-one miles. Not wishing to
be benighted, we cantered the whole way, and completed the distance in
three hours and a half, as we arrived at Dambool at half-past five P.M.

I had started off Wallace and all the coolies from Newera Ellia about a
week beforehand; and, having instructed him to leave a small box with a
change of clothes at the Dambool rest-house, I now felt the benefit of
the arrangement. The horsekeepers could not possibly arrive that night.
We therefore cleaned and fed our own horses, and littered them down
with a good bed of paddy straw; and, that being completed, we turned our
attention to curry and rice.

The next morning at break of day we fed the horses. Old Jack was as
fresh as a daisy. The morning was delightfully cloudy, but free from
rain; and we cantered on to Innamalow, five miles from Dambool. Here we
procured a guide to Minneria; and turning off from the main road into
a narrow jungle path, we rode for twenty miles through dense jungle.
Passing the rock of Sigiri, which was formerly used as a fort by the
ancient inhabitants of the country, we gradually entered better jungle,
and at length we emerged upon the beautiful plains of Minneria. I had
ordered Wallace to pitch the encampment in the exact spot which I had
frequently occupied some years ago. I therefore knew the rendezvous, and
directed my course accordingly.

What a change had taken place! A continuous drought had reduced the lake
from its original size of twenty-two miles in circumference to a mere
pool of about four miles in circuit; this was all that remained of the
noble sheet of water around which I had formerly enjoyed so much sport.
From the rich bed of the dry lake sprang a fine silky grass of about
two feet in height, forming a level plain of velvet green far as the
eye could reach. The turf was firm and elastic; the four o'clock sun had
laid aside the fiercest of his rays, and threw a gentle glow over the
scene, which reminded me of an English midsummer evening. There is so
little ground in Ceylon upon which a horse can gallop without the risks
of holes, bogs, and rocks that we could not resist a canter upon such
fine turf; and although the horses had made a long journey already,
they seemed to enjoy a more rapid pace when they felt the inviting
sward beneath their feet. Although every inch of this country had
been familiar to me, I felt some difficulty in finding the way to the
appointed spot, the scene was so changed by the disappearance of the
water.

There were fresh elephants' tracks in many parts of the plain, and I was
just anticipating good sport for the next day, when we suddenly heard
an elephant trumpet in the open forest, which we were skirting. The next
instant I saw eight elephants among the large trees which bordered the
forest. For the moment I thought it was a herd, but I almost immediately
noticed the constrained and unnatural positions in which they were
standing. They were all tied to different trees by the legs, and upon
approaching the spot, we found an encampment of Arabs and Moormen who
had been noosing elephants for sale. We at once saw that the country was
disturbed, as these people had been employed in catching elephants for
some weeks.

After a ride of seven or eight miles along the plain, I discovered a
thin blue line of smoke rising from the edge of a distant forest, and
shortly after, I could distinguish forms moving on the plain in the
same direction. Cantering towards the spot, we found our coolies
and encampment. The tents were pitched under some noble trees, which
effectually excluded every ray of sun. It was the exact spot upon
which I had been accustomed to encamp some years ago. The servants had
received orders when they started from Kandy, to have dinner prepared
at five o'clock on the 17th of November; it was accordingly ready on our
arrival.

Minneria was the appointed rendezvous from which this trip was to
commence. Our party was to consist of the Honourable E. Stuart Wortley,*
(* The present Lord Wharncliffe.)E. Palliser, Esq., Lieutenant V. Baker,
S.W. Baker. My brother had unfortunately only fourteen days' leave from
his regiment, and he and I had accordingly hurried on a day in advance
of our party, they having still some preparations to complete in Kandy,
and not being quite so well horsed for a quick journey.

Nothing could be more comfortable than our arrangements. Our followers
and establishment consisted of four personal servants, an excellent
cook, four horse-keepers, fifty coolies, and Wallace; in all, sixty
people. The coolies were all picked men, who gave not the slightest
trouble during the whole trip. We had two tents, one of which contained
four beds and a general dressing-table; the other, which was my
umbrella-shaped tent, was arranged as the diningroom, with table and
chairs. With complete dinner and breakfast services for four persons,
and abundance of table linen, we had everything that could be wished
for. Although I can rough it if necessary, I do not pretend to prefer
discomfort from choice. A little method and a trifling extra cost will
make the jungle trip anything but uncomfortable. There was nothing
wanting in our supplies. We had sherry, madeira, brandy and curacoa,
biscuits, tea, sugar, coffee, hams, tongues, sauces, pickles, mustard,
sardines en huile, tins of soups and preserved meats and vegetables,
currant jelly for venison, maccaroni, vermicelli, flour, and a variety
of other things that add to the comfort of the jungle, including last,
but not least, a double supply of soap and candles. No one knows the
misery should either of these fail--dirt and darkness is the necessary
consequence.

There was a large stock of talipots* (*Large leaves from the talipot
tree.) to form tents for the people and coverings for the horses in case
of rain; in fact, there never was a trip more happily planned or more
comfortably arranged, and there was certainly never such a battery
assembled in Ceylon as we now mustered. Such guns deserve to be
chronicled:--

     Wortley. . 1 single barrel rifle.   3-ounce
         " . .  1 double "    rifle .   No. 12.
         " . .  2 double "    guns  .   No. 12.
     Palliser.. 1 single "    rifle .   No. 8 (my old 2-ounce)
         "  ..  1 double "    rifle .   No. 12.
         "  ..  2 double "    guns  .   No. 12.
     V. Baker   3 double "    " .       No. 14.
         " . .  1 double "    " .       No. 12.
         " . .  1 single "    rifle .   No. 14.
     S. W. Baker. 1 single "  rifle .   4-ounce.
         " . .  3 double "    rifles    No. 10.
         " . .  1 double "    gun.      No. 16.
                  18 guns.

These guns were all by the first makers, and we took possession of our
hunting country with the confidence of a good bag, provided that game
was abundant.

But how changed was this country since I had visited it in former years,
not only in appearance but in the quantity of game!

On these plains, where in times past I had so often counted immense
herds of wild buffaloes, not one was now to be seen. The deer were
scared and in small herds, not exceeding seven or ten, proving how they
had been thinned out by shooting. In fact, Minneria had become within
the last four years a focus for most sportsmen, and the consequence
was, that the country was spoiled; not by the individual shooting
of visitors, but by the stupid practice of giving the natives large
quantities of powder and ball as a present at the conclusion of a trip.
They, of course, being thus supplied with ammunition, shot the deer
and buffaloes without intermission, and drove them from the country by
incessant harassing.

I saw immediately that we could not expect much sport in this disturbed
part of the country, and we determined to waste no more time in this
spot than would be necessary in procuring the elephant trackers from
Doolana. We planned our campaign that evening at dinner.

Nov. 18.--At daybreak I started Wallace off to Doolana to bring my
old acquaintance the Rhatamahatmeya and the Moormen trackers. I felt
confident that I could prevail upon him to accompany us to the limits of
his district; this was all-important to our chance of sport, as without
him we could procure no assistance from the natives.

After breakfast we mounted our horses and rode to Cowdelle, eight miles,
as I expected to find elephants in this open but secluded part of the
country. There were very fresh tracks of a herd; and as we expected
Wortley and Palliser on the following day, we would not disturb the
country, but returned to Minneria and passed the afternoon in shooting
snipe and crocodiles. The latter were in incredible numbers, as the
whole population of this usually extensive lake was now condensed in the
comparatively small extent of water before us. The fish of course were
equally numerous, and we had an unlimited supply of 'lola' of three to
four pounds weight at a penny each. Our gang of coolies feasted upon
them in immense quantities, and kept a native fully employed in catching
them. Our cook exerted his powers in producing some piquante dishes
with these fish. Stewed with melted butter (ghee), with anchovy sauce,
madeira, sliced onion and green chillies, this was a dish worthy of
'Soyer,' but they were excellent in all shapes, even if plain boiled or
fried.

Nov. 19.--At about four P.M. I scanned the plain with my telescope, in
expectation of the arrival of our companions, whom I discovered in the
distance, and as they approached within hearing, we greeted them with
a shout of welcome to show the direction of our encampment. We were a
merry party that evening at dinner, and we determined to visit Cowdelle,
and track up the herd that we had discovered, directly that the Moormen
trackers should arrive from Doolana.

The worst of this country was the swarm of mosquitoes which fed upon us
at night; it was impossible to sleep with the least degree of comfort,
and we always hailed the arrival of morning with delight.

Nov. 20.-At dawn this morning, before daylight could be called complete,
Palliser had happened to look out from the tent, and to his surprise he
saw a rogue elephant just retreating to the jungle, at about two hundred
yards distance. We loaded the guns and went after him in as short a time
as possible, but he was too quick for us, and he had retreated to thick
jungle before we were out. Wortley and I then strolled along the edge of
the jungle, hoping to find him again in some of the numerous nooks which
the plain formed by running up the forest. We had walked quietly along
for about half a mile, when we crossed an abrupt rocky promontory, which
stretched from the jungle into the lake like a ruined pier. On the
other side, the lake formed a small bay, shaded by the forest, which was
separated from the water's edge by a gentle slope of turf about fifty
yards in width. This bay was a sheltered spot, and as we crossed the
rocky promontory, the noise that we made over the loose stones in
turning the corner, disturbed a herd of six deer, five of whom dashed
into the jungle; the sixth stopped for a moment at the edge of the
forest to take a parting look at us. He was the buck of the herd, and
carried a noble pair of antlers; he was about a hundred and twenty yards
from us, and I took a quick shot at him with one of the No. 10 rifles.
The brushwood closed over him as he bounded into the jungle, but an
ominous crack sounded back from the ball, which made me think he was
hit. At this moment Palliser and V. Baker came running up, thinking that
we had found the elephant.

The buck was standing upon some snow-white quartz rocks when I fired,
and upon an examination of the spot frothy patches of blood showed
that he was struck through the lungs. Men are bloodthirsty animals, for
nothing can exceed the pleasure, after making a long shot, of finding
the blood-track on the spot when the animal is gone. We soon tracked him
up, and found him lying dead in the jungle within twenty yards of the
spot. This buck was the first head of game we had bagged, with the
exception of a young elk that I had shot on horseback during the ride
from Dambool. We had plenty of snipe, and, what with fish, wildfowl,
and venison, our breakfast began to assume an inviting character. After
breakfast we shot a few couple of snipe upon the plain, and in the
evening we formed two parties--Palliser and V. Baker, and Wortley
and myself--and taking different directions, we scoured the country,
agreeing to meet at the tent at dusk.

W. and I saw nothing beyond the fresh tracks of game which evidently
came out only at night. We wandered about till evening, and then
returned towards the tent. On the way I tried a long shot at a heron
with a rifle; he was standing at about a hundred and fifty yards from
us, and by great good luck I killed him.

On arrival at the tent we found P. and V. B., who had returned. They
had been more fortunate in their line of country, having found two rogue
elephants--one in thick jungle, which V. B. fired at and missed; and
shortly after this shot they found another rogue on the plain not
far from the tent. The sun was nearly setting, and shone well in the
elephant's eyes; thus they were able to creep pretty close to him
without being observed, and P. killed him by a good shot with a rifle,
at about twenty-five yards. In my opinion this was the same elephant
that had been seen near the tent early in the morning.

Wallace, with the Rhatamahatmeya and the trackers, had arrived, and we
resolved to start for Cowdelle at daybreak on the following morning.

Nov. 21.--Having made our preparations over night for an early start, we
were off at daybreak, carrying with us the cook with his utensils, and
the canteen containing everything that could be required for breakfast.
We were thus prepared for a long day's work, should it be necessary.

After a ride of about eight miles along a sandy path, bordered by dense
jungle, we arrived at the open but marshy ground upon which we had seen
the tracks of the herd a few days previous. Fresh elephant tracks had
accompanied us the whole way along our path, and a herd was evidently
somewhere in the vicinity, as the path was obstructed in many places by
the branches of trees upon which they had been feeding during the night.
The sandy ground was likewise printed with innumerable tracks of elk,
deer, hogs and leopards. We halted under some wide-spreading trees,
beneath which, a clear stream of water rippled over a bed of white
pebbles, with banks of fine green sward. In this spot were unmistakable
tracks of elephants, where they had been recently drinking. The country
was park-like, but surrounded upon its borders with thick jungles;
clumps of thorny bushes were scattered here and there, and an abundance
of good grass land water ensured a large quantity of game. The elephants
were evidently not far off, and of course were well secured in the
thorny jungles.

Wortley had never yet seen a wild elephant, and a dense jungle is by no
means a desirable place for an introduction to this kind of game. It
is a rule of mine never to follow elephants in such ground, where they
generally have it all their own way; but, as there are exceptions to all
rules, we determined to find them, after having taken so much trouble in
making our arrangements.

We unsaddled, and ordered breakfast to be ready for our return beneath
one of the most shady trees; having loaded, we started off upon the
tracks. As I had expected, they led to a thick thorny jungle, and slowly
and cautiously we followed the leading tracker. The jungle became worse
and worse as we advanced, and had it not been for the path which the
elephants had formed, we could not have moved an inch. The leaves of
the bushes were wet with dew, and we were obliged to cover up all the
gun-locks to prevent any of them missing fire. We crept for about a
quarter of a mile upon this track, when the sudden snapping of a branch
a hundred paces in advance plainly showed that we were up with the game.

This is the exciting moment in elephant-shooting, and every breath is
held for a second intimation of the exact position of the herd. A deep,
guttural sound, like the rolling of very distant thunder, is heard,
accompanied by the rustling and cracking of the branches as they rub
their tough sides against the trees. Our advance had been so stealthy
that they were perfectly undisturbed. Silently and carefully we crept
up, and in a few minutes I distinguished two immense heads exactly
facing us at about ten paces distant. Three more indistinct forms loomed
in the thick bushes just behind the leaders.

A quiet whisper to Wortley to take a cool shot at the left-hand
elephant, in the exact centre of the forehead, and down went the two
leaders! Wortley's and mine; quickly we ran into the herd, before they
knew what had happened, and down went another to V Baker's shot. The
smoke hung in such thick volumes that we could hardly see two yards
before us, when straight into the cloud of smoke an elephant rushed
towards us. V. Baker fired, but missed; and my left-hand barrel
extinguished him. Running through the smoke with a spare rifle I killed
the last elephant. They were all bagged--five elephants within thirty
seconds from the first shot fired. Wortley had commenced well, having
killed his first elephant with one shot.

We found breakfast ready on our return to the horses, and having
disturbed this part of the country by the heavy volley at the herd, we
returned to Minneria.


I was convinced that we could expect no sport in this neighbourhood; we
therefore held a consultation as to our line of country.

Some years ago I had entered the north of the Veddah country from this
point, and I now proposed that we should start upon a trip of discovery,
and endeavour to penetrate from the north to the south of the Veddah
country into the 'Park.' No person had ever shot over this route, and
the wildness of the idea only increased the pleasure of the trip. We
had not the least idea of the distance, but we knew the direction by a
pocket compass.

There was but one objection to the plan, and this hinged upon the
shortness of V. Baker's leave. He had only ten days unexpired, and it
seemed rash, with so short a term, to plunge into an unknown country;
however, he was determined to push on, as he trusted in the powers of
an extraordinary pony that would do any distance on a push. This
determination, however destroyed a portion of the trip, as we were
obliged to pass quickly through a lovely sporting country, to arrive at
a civilised, or rather an acknowledged, line of road by which he could
return to Kandy. Had we, on the contrary, travelled easily through this
country, we should have killed an extraordinary amount of game.

We agreed that our route should be this. We were to enter the Veddah
country at the north and strike down to the south. I knew a bridle-path
from Badulla to Batticaloa, which cut through the Veddah country from
west to east; therefore we should meet it at right angles. From this
point V. Baker was to bid adieu, and turn to the west and reach Badulla;
from thence to Newera Ellia and to his regiment in Kandy. We were to
continue our direction southward, which I knew would eventually bring us
to the 'Park.'

Nov. 22.--We moved our encampment, accompanied by the headman and his
followers; and after a ride of fourteen miles we arrived at the country
of Hengiriwatdowane, a park-like spot of about twelve square miles, at
which place we were led to expect great sport. The appearance of the
ground was all that we could wish; numerous patches of jungle and single
trees were dotted upon the surface of fine turf.

In the afternoon, after a cooling shower, we all separated, and started
with our respective gun-bearers in different directions, with the
understanding that no one was to fire a shot at any game but elephants.
We were to meet in the evening and describe the different parts of the
country, so that we should know how to proceed on the following day.

I came upon herds of deer in several places, but I of course did not
fire, although they were within a certain shot. I saw no elephants.

Everyone saw plenty of deer, but V. Baker was the one lucky individual
in meeting with elephants. He came upon a fine herd, but they winded him
and escaped. There was evidently plenty of game, but V. B. having fired
at the elephants, we knew that this part of the country was disturbed;
we therefore had no hesitation in discharging all the guns and having
them well cleaned for the next morning, when we proposed to move the
tent a couple of miles farther off.

NOV. 23.--A most unfortunate day, proving the disadvantage of being
ignorant of the ground. Although I knew the whole country by one route,
from Minneria to the north of the Veddah country, we had now diverged
from that route to visit this particular spot, which I had never before
shot over. We passed on through beautiful open country interspersed with
clumps of jungle, but without one large tree that would shade the tent.

A single-roofed tent exposed to the sun is perfectly unbearable, and we
continued to push on in the hope of finding a tree of sufficient size to
afford shelter.

Some miles were passed; fresh tracks of elephants and all kinds of game
were very numerous, and the country was perfection for shooting.

At length the open plains became more contracted, and the patches of
jungle larger and more frequent. By degrees the open ground ceased
altogether, and we found ourselves in a narrow path of deep mud passing
through impenetrable thorny jungle. Nevertheless our guide insisted
upon pushing on to a place which he compared to that which we had
unfortunately left behind us. Instead of going two miles, as we had
originally intended, we had already ridden sixteen at the least, and
still the headman persisted in pushing on. No coolies were up; the tents
and baggage were far behind; we had nothing to eat; we had left the fine
open country, which was full of game, miles behind us, and we were in a
close jungle country, where a rifle was not worth a bodkin. It was too
annoying. I voted for turning back to the lovely hunting-ground that we
had deserted; but after a long consultation, we came to the conclusion
that every day was of such importance to V. Baker that we could not
afford to retrace a single step.

Thus all this beautiful country, abounding with every kind of game, was
actually passed over without firing a single shot.

I killed a few couple of snipe in a neighbouring swamp to pass the time
until the coolies arrived with the baggage; they were not up until four
o'clock P.M., therefore the whole day was wasted, and we were obliged to
sleep here.

Nov. 24--This being Sunday, the guns were at rest. The whole of this
country was dense chenar jungle; we therefore pushed on, and, after a
ride of fourteen miles, we arrived at the Rhatamahatmeya's residence
at Doolana. He insisted upon our taking breakfast with him, and
he accordingly commenced his preparations. Borrowing one of our
hunting-knives, two of his men gave chase to a kid and cut its head off.
Half an hour afterwards we were eating it in various forms, all of which
were excellent.

We had thus travelled over forty-four miles of country from Minneria
without killing a single head of game. Had we remained a week in the
district through which we had passed so rapidly, we must have had most
excellent sport. All this was the effect of being hurried for time.

In the neighbourhood of Doolana I had killed many elephants some years
ago, and I have no doubt we could have had good sport at this time; but
V. Baker's leave was so fast expiring, and the natives' accounts of the
distance through the Veddah country were so vague, that we had no choice
except to push straight through as fast as we could travel, until we
should arrive on the Batticaloa path.

We took leave of our friend the Rhatamahatmeya; he had provided us with
good trackers, who were to accompany us through the Veddah country to
the 'Park'; but I now began to have my doubts as to their knowledge of
the ground. However, we started, and after skirting the Doolana tank for
some distance, we rode five miles through fine forest, and then arrived
on the banks of the Mahawelle river. The stream teas at this time very
rapid, and was a quarter of a mile in width, rolling along between
its steep banks through a forest of magnificent trees. Some hours were
consumed in transporting the coolies and baggage across the river, as
the canoe belonging to the village of Monampitya, on the opposite bank,
would only hold four coolies and their loads at one voyage.

We swam the horses across, and attending carefully to the safety of the
cook before any other individual, we breakfasted on the opposite bank,
while the coolies were crossing the river.

After breakfast, a grave question arose, viz., which way were we to go?
The trackers that the headman had given us, now confessed that they did
not know an inch of the Veddah country, into which we had arrived by
crossing the river, and they refused to go a step farther. Here, was a
'regular fix!' as the Americans would express it.

The village of Monampitya consists of about six small huts; and we
now found that there was no other village within forty miles in the
direction that we wished to steer. Not a soul could we obtain as a
guide--no offer of reward would induce a man to start, as they declared
that no one knew the country, and that the distance was so great that
the people would be starved, as they could get nothing to eat. We looked
hopelessly at the country before us. We had a compass, certainly, which
might be useful enough on a desert or a prairie, but in a jungle country
it was of little value.

Just as we were in the greatest despair, and we were gazing wistfully
in the direction which the needle pointed out as the position of the
'Park,' now separated from us by an untravelled district of an unknown
distance, we saw two figures with bows and arrows coming from the
jungle. One of these creatures bolted back again into the bushes the
moment he perceived us; the other one had a fish in his hand, of about
four pounds weight, which he had shot with his bow and arrow; while he
was hesitating whether he should run or stand still, we caught him.

Of all the ugly little devils I ever saw, he was superlative. He
squinted terribly; his hair was greyish and matted with filth; he was
certainly not more than four feet and a half high, and he carried a bow
two feet longer than himself. He could speak no language but his own,
which throughout the Veddah country is much the same, intermixed with so
many words resembling Cingalese that a native can generally understand
their meaning. By proper management, and some little presents of rice
and tobacco, we got the animal into a good humour, and we gathered the
following in formation.

He knew nothing of any place except the northern portion of the Veddah
country. This was his world; but his knowledge of it was extremely
limited, as he could not undertake to guide us farther than Oomanoo, a
Veddah village, which he described as three days' journey from where we
then stood. We made him point out the direction in which it lay. This he
did, after looking for some moments at the sun; and, upon comparing the
position with the compass, we were glad to see it at south-south-east,
being pretty close to the course that we wished to steer. From Oomanoo,
he said, we could procure another Veddah to guide us still farther; but
he himself knew nothing more.

Now this was all satisfactory enough so far, but I had been completely
wrong in my idea of the distance from Doolana to the 'Park.' We now
heard of three days' journey to Oomanoo, which was certainly some where
in the very centre of the Veddah country; and our quaint little guide
had never even heard of the Batticaloa road. There was no doubt,
therefore, that it was a long way from Oomanoo, which village might be
any distance from us, as a Veddah's description of a day's journey might
vary from ten to thirty miles.

I certainly looked forward to a short allowance of food both for
ourselves and coolies. We had been hurrying through the country at such
a rate that we had killed no deer; we had, therefore, been living
upon our tins of preserved provisions, of which we had now only four
remaining.

At the village of Monampitya there was no rice procurable, as the
natives lived entirely upon korrakan* (*A small seed, which they make
into hard, uneatable cakes.), at which our coolies turned up their noses
when I advised them to lay in a stock before starting.

There was no time to be lost, and we determined to push on as fast as
the coolies could follow, as they had only two days' provisions; we had
precisely the same, and those could not be days of feasting. We were, in
fact, like sailors going to sea with a ship only half-victualled; and,
as we followed our little guide, and lost sight of the village behind
us, I foresaw that our stomachs would suffer unless game was plentiful
on the path.

We passed through beautiful open country for about eight miles, during
which we saw several herds of deer; but we could not get a shot.
At length we pitched the tent, at four o'clock P.M., at the foot of
'Gunner's Coin,' a solitary rocky mountain of about two thousand feet
in height, which rises precipitously from the level country. We then
divided into two parties--W. and P., and V. B. and I. We strolled off
with our guns in different directions.

The country was perfectly level, being a succession of glades of fine
low grass divided into a thousand natural paddocks by belts of jungle.

We were afraid to stroll more than a mile from the tent, lest we should
lose our way; and we took a good survey of the most prominent points of
the mountain, that we might know our direction by their position.

After an hour's walk, and just as the sun was setting, a sudden crash in
a jungle a few yards from us brought the rifles upon full cock. The next
moment out came an elephant's head, and I knocked him over by a front
shot. He had held his head in such a peculiar position that a ball
could not reach the brain, and he immediately re covered himself, and,
wheeling suddenly round, he retreated into the jungle, through which we
could not follow.

We continued to stroll on from glade to glade, expecting to find him;
and, in about a quarter of an hour, we heard the trumpet of an elephant.
Fully convinced that this was the wounded animal, we pushed on towards
the spot; but, on turning a corner of the jungle, we came suddenly upon
a herd of seven of the largest elephants that I ever saw together; they
must have been all bulls. Unfortunately, they had our wind, and, being
close to the edge of a thick thorny jungle, they disappeared like magic.
We gave chase for a short distance, but were soon stopped by the thorns.
We had no chance with them.

It was now dusk, and we therefore hastened towards the tent, seeing
three herds of deer and one of hogs on our way; but it was too dark to
get a shot. The deer were barking in every direction, and the country
was evidently alive with game.

On arrival at the tent, we found that W. and P. had met with no better
luck than ourselves. Two of our tins of provisions were consumed at
dinner, leaving us only two remaining. Not a moment was to be lost in
pushing forward; and we determined upon a long march on the following
day.

Nov. 25.--Sunrise saw us in the saddles. The coolies, with the tents and
baggage, kept close up with the horses, being afraid to lag behind, as
there was not a semblance of a path, and we depended entirely upon our
small guide, who appeared to have an intimate knowledge of the whole
country. The little Veddah trotted along through the winding glades; and
we travelled for about five miles without a word being spoken by one of
the party, as we were in hopes of coming upon deer. Unfortunately, we
were travelling down wind; we accordingly did not see a single head of
game, as they of course winded us long before we came in view.

We had ridden about eight miles, when we suddenly came upon the fresh
tracks of elephants, and, immediately dismounting, we began to track up.
The ground being very dry, and the grass short and parched, the tracks
were very indistinct, and it was tedious work. We had followed for
about half a mile through alternate glades and belts of jungle, when we
suddenly spied a Veddah hiding behind a tree about sixty yards from us.
The moment that he saw he was discovered, he set off at full speed, but
two of our coolies, who acted as gunbearers, started after him. These
fellows were splendid runners, and, after a fine course, they ran him
down; but when caught, instead of expressing any fear, he seemed to
think it a good joke. He was a rather short but stout-built fellow, and
he was immediately recognised by our little guide, as one of the best
hunters among the Northern Veddahs. He soon understood our object; and,
putting down his bow and arrows and a little pipkin of sour curd (his
sole provision on his hunting trip), he started at once upon the track.

Without any exception he was the best tracker I have ever seen: although
the ground was as hard as a stone, and the footprints constantly
invisible, he went like a hound upon a scent, at a pace that kept us
in an occasional jog-trot. After half an hour's tracking, and doubling
backward and forward in thick jungle, we came up with three elephants.
V. B. killed one, and I killed another at the same moment. V. B. also
fired at the third; but, instead of falling, he rushed towards us, and I
killed him with my remaining barrel, Palliser joining in the shot. They
were all killed in about three seconds. The remaining portion of the
herd were at a distance, and we heard them crashing through the thick
jungle. We followed them for about a mile, but they had evidently gone
off to some other country. The jungle was very thick, and we had a long
journey to accomplish; we therefore returned to the horses and rode on,
our party being now increased by the Veddah tracker.

After having ridden about twenty miles, the last tight of which had been
through alternate forest and jungle, we arrived at a small plain of
rich grass of about a hundred acres: this was surrounded by forest.
Unfortunately, the nights were not moonlight, or we could have killed a
deer, as they came out in immense herds just at dusk. We luckily bagged
a good supply of snipe, upon which we dined, and we reserved our tins.
of meat for some more urgent occasion.

Nov. 26.--All vestiges of open country had long ceased. We now rode
for seventeen miles through magnificent forest, containing the most
stupendous banian trees that I have ever beheld. The ebony trees
were also very numerous, and grew to an immense size. This forest
was perfectly open. There was not a sign of either underwood or grass
beneath the trees, and no track was discernible beyond the notches in
the trees made at some former time by the Veddah's axe. In one part of
this forest a rocky mountain appeared at some period to have burst into
fragments; and for the distance of about a mile it formed the apparent
ruins of a city of giants. Rocks as large as churches lay piled one upon
the other forming long dark alleys and caves that would have housed
some hundreds of men.

The effect was perfectly fairylike, as the faint silver light of the
sun, mellowed by the screen of tree tops, half-lighted up, these silent
caves. The giant stems of the trees sprang like tall columns from the
foundations of the rocks that shadowed them with their dense foliage.
Two or three families of 'Cyclops' would not have been out of place in
this spot; they were just the class of people that one would expect to
meet.

Late in the afternoon we arrived at the long-talked-of village of
Oomanoo, about eighteen miles from our last encampment. It was a
squalid, miserable place, of course, and nothing was obtainable. Our
coolies had not tasted food since the preceding evening; but, by good
luck, we met a travelling Moorman, who had just arrived at the village
with a little rice to exchange with the Veddahs for dried venison. As
the villagers did not happen to have any meat to barter, we purchased
all the rice at an exorbitant price; but it was only sufficient for half
a meal for each servant and coolie, when equally divided.

Fortunately, we killed four snipe and two doves these were added to
our last two tins of provisions, which were 'hotch potch,' and stewed
altogether. This made a good dinner. We had now nothing left but our
biscuits and groceries. All our hams and preserved meats were gone, and
we only had one meal on that day.

Nov. 27.--Our horses had eaten nothing but grass for many days; this,
however, was excellent, and old Jack looked fat, and was as hardy as
ever. We now discharged our Veddah guides, and took on others from
Oomanoo. These men told us that we were only four miles from the
Batticaloa road, and with great glee we started at break of day,
determined to breakfast on arrival at the road.

The old adage of 'Many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip' was here fully
exemplified. Four miles! We rode twenty-five miles without drawing the
rein once! and at length we then did reach the road; that is to say, a
narrow track of grass, which is the track to Batticaloa for which we
had been steering during our journey. A native but in this wilderness
rendered the place worthy of a name; it is therefore known upon the
Government maps as 'Pyeley.'

From this place we were directed on to 'Curhellulai,' a village
represented to us as a small London, abounding with every luxury. We
obtained a guide and started, as they assured us it was only two miles
distant.

After riding three miles through a country of open glades and thick
jungle, the same guide who had at first told us it was two miles from
'Pyeley,' now said it was only 'three miles farther on.' We knew these
fellows' ideas of distance too well to proceed any farther. We had
quitted the Batticaloa track, and we immediately dismounted, unsaddled,
and turned the horses loose upon the grass.

Having had only one meal the day before, and no breakfast this morning,
we looked forward with impatience to the arrival of the coolies,
although I confess I did not expect them, as they were too weak from
want of food to travel far. They had only half a meal the day before,
and nothing at all the day before that.

We had halted in a grassy glade surrounded by thick jungle. There were
numerous fresh tracks of deer and elk, but the animals themselves would
not show.

As evening approached, we collected a quantity of dead timber and
lighted a good fire, before which we piled the rifles, three and three,
about ten feet apart. Across these we laid a pole, and then piled
branches from the ground to the pole in a horizontal position. This made
a shed to protect us from the dew, and, with our saddles for pillows, we
all lay down together and slept soundly till morning.

Nov. 28.--We woke hungry, and accordingly tightened our belts by two or
three holes. V. Baker had to be in Kandy by the evening of the 30th, and
he was now determined to push on. His pony had thrown all his shoes, and
had eaten nothing but grass for many days.

I knew our position well, as I had been lost near this spot about two
years ago. We were fifty-three miles from Badulla. Nevertheless, V. B.
started off, and arrived in Badulla that evening. On the same pony he
pushed on to Newera Ellia, thirty-six miles, the next day; and then
taking a fresh horse, he rode into Kandy, forty-seven miles, arriving in
good time on the evening of the 30th November.

Having parted with V. B., we saddled and mounted, and, following our
guide through a forest-path, we arrived at Curhellulai after a ride of
four miles. Nothing could exceed the wretchedness of this place, from
which we had been led to expect so much. We could not even procure a
grain of rice from the few small huts which composed the village. The
headman, who himself looked half-starved, made some cakes of korrakan;
but as they appeared to be composed of two parts of sand, one of dirt
and one of grain, I preferred a prolonged abstinence to such filth. The
abject poverty of the whole of this country is beyond description.

Our coolies arrived at eight A.M., faint and tired; they no longer
turned up their noses at korrakan, as they did at Monampitya, but they
filled themselves almost to bursting.

I started off V. B.'s coolies after him, also eight men whose loads had
been consumed, and, with a diminished party, we started for Bibille,
which the natives assured us was only nineteen miles from this spot. For
once they were about correct in their ideas of distance. The beautiful
'Park' country commenced about four miles from Curhellulai, and, after
a lovely ride through this scenery for sixteen miles, we arrived at
the luxurious and pretty village of Bibille, which had so often been my
quarters.

We had ridden a hundred and forty miles from Minneria, through a country
abounding with game of all kinds, sixty miles of which had never been
shot over, and yet the whole bag in this lovely country consisted of
only three elephants. So much for hurrying through our ground. If we
had remained for a week at the foot of the Gunner's Coin we could have
obtained supplies of all kinds from Doolana, and we should have enjoyed
excellent sport through the whole country. Our total bag was now
wretchedly small, considering the quantity of ground that we had
passed over. We had killed nine elephants and two deer. V. Baker had
a miserable time of it, having only killed two elephants when he was
obliged to return. The trip might, in fact, be said to commence from
Bibille.

This is a very pretty, civilized village, in the midst of a wild
country. It is the residence of a Rhatamahatmeya, and he and his family
were well known to me. They were perfectly astonished when they heard by
which route we had arrived, and upon hearing of our forty-eight hours of
fasting, they lost no time in preparing dinner. We were now in a land of
plenty, and we shortly fell to at a glorious dinner of fowls in various
shapes, curries, good coffee, rice cakes, plantains, and sweet potatoes.
After our recent abstinence and poor fare, it seemed a perfect banquet.
Nov. 29.--The coolies did not arrive till early this morning; they were
soon hard at work at curry and rice, and, after a few hours of rest, we
packed up and started for a spot in the 'Park' (upon which I had often
encamped) about ten miles from Bibille.

The horses had enjoyed their paddy as much as we had relished our change
of diet, and the coolies were perfectly refreshed. I sent orders to
Kotoboya (about twenty miles from Bibille) for several bullock-loads of
paddy and rice to meet us at an appointed spot, and with a good supply
of fowls and rice, &c., for the present, we arrived at our place of
encampment at three P.M., after a delightful ride.

The grass was beautifully green; a few large trees shaded the tents,
which were pitched near a stream, and the undulations of the ground,
interspersed with clumps of trees and ornamented by rocky mountains,
formed a most lovely scene. We sent a messenger to Nielgalla for Banda,
and another to Dimbooldene for old Medima and the trackers, with orders
to meet us at our present encampment. We then took our rifles and
strolled out to get a deer. We shortly found a herd, and Wortley got a
shot at about sixty yards, and killed a doe. We could have killed other
deer shortly afterwards, but we did not wish to disturb the country by
firing unnecessary shots, as we had observed fresh tracks of elephants.

We carried the deer to the tent, and rejoiced our coolies with the sight
of venison; the doe was soon divided among them, one haunch only being
reserved for our own use.

Nov. 30.--This, being Sunday, was a day of rest for man and beast after
our recent wanderings, and we patiently awaited the arrival of Banda and
the trackers. The guns were all in beautiful order, and stood arranged
against a temporary rack, in readiness for the anticipated sport on the
following day.

Banda and the trackers arrived in the afternoon. His accounts were very
favourable as to the number of elephants, and we soon laid down a plan
for beating the 'Park' in a systematic manner.

Upon this arrangement the duration of sport in this country materially
depends. If the shooting is conducted thoughtlessly here and there,
without reference to the localities, the whole 'Park' becomes alarmed
at once, and the elephants quit the open country and retire to the dense
chenar jungles.

I proposed that we should commence shooting at our present encampment,
then beat towards the Cave, shoot over that country towards Pattapalaar,
from thence to cross the river and make a circuit of the whole of that
portion of the 'Park,' and finish off in the environs of Nielgalla.

Banda approved of this plan, as we should then be driving the borders of
the 'Park,' instead of commencing in the centre.

Dec. 1.--The scouts were sent out at daybreak. At two o'clock P.M. they
returned: they had found elephants, but they were four miles from the
tent, and two men had been left to watch them.

Upon questioning them as to their position, we discovered that they were
in total ignorance of the number in the herd, as they had merely heard
them roaring in the distance. They could not approach nearer, as a
notoriously vicious rogue elephant was consorting with the herd. This
elephant was well known to the natives from a peculiarity in having only
one tusk, which was about eighteen inches long.

In November and December elephant-shooting requires more than ordinary
caution at the 'Park,' as the rogue elephants, who are always bulls,
are in the habit of attending upon the herds. The danger lies in their
cunning. They are seldom seen in the herd itself, but they are
generally within a few hundred paces; and just as the guns may have been
discharged at the herd, the rogue will, perhaps, appear in full charge
from his ambush. This is exquisitely dangerous, and is the manner in
which I was caught near this spot in 1850.

Banda was very anxious that this rogue should be killed before we
attacked the herd, and he begged me to give him a shoulder-shot with the
four-ounce rifle, while Wortley and Palliser were to fire at his head!
A shot through the shoulder with the heavy rifle would be certain death,
although he might not drop immediately; but the object of the natives
was simply to get him killed, on account of his mischievous habits.

We therefore agreed to make our first attack upon the rogue: if we
should kill him on the spot, so much the better; if not, we knew that a
four-ounce ball through his lungs would kill him eventually, and, at
all events, he would not be in a humour to interrupt our pursuit of the
herd, which we were to push for the moment we had put the rogue out of
the way.

These arrangements being made, we started. After a ride of about four
miles through beautiful country, we saw a man in the distance, who was
beckoning to us. This was one of the watchers, who pointed to a jungle
into which the elephant had that moment entered. From the extreme
caution of the trackers, I could see that this rogue was worthy of his
name.

The jungle into which he had entered was a long but narrow belt, about a
hundred yards in width; it was tolerably good, but still it was so close
that we could not see more than six paces in advance. I fully expected
that he was lying in wait for us, and would charge when least expected.
We therefore cautiously entered the jungle, and, sending Banda on in
advance, with instructions to retreat upon the guns if charged, we
followed him at about twenty paces distance.

Banda immediately untied his long hair, which fell to his hips, and
divesting himself of all clothing except a cloth round his loins, he
crept on in advance as stealthily as a cat. So noiselessly did he
move that we presently saw him gliding back to us without a sound.
He whispered that he had found the elephant, who was standing on the
patina, a few yards beyond the jungle. We immediately advanced, and upon
emerging from the jungle we saw him within thirty paces on our right,
standing with his broadside exposed. Crack went the four-ounce through
his shoulder, and the three-ounce and No. 8, with a similar good
intention, into his head. Nevertheless he did not fall, but started off
at a great pace, though stumbling nearly on his knees, his head and tail
both hanging down, his trunk hanging listlessly upon the ground; and
his ears, instead of being cocked, were pressed tightly back against his
neck. He did not look much like a rogue at that moment, with upwards of
half a pound of lead in his carcass. Still we could not get another shot
at him before he reached a jungle about seventy paces distant; and here
we stopped to load before we followed him, thinking that he was in dense
chenar. This was a great mistake, for, on following him a minute later,
we found the jungle was perfectly open, being merely a fringe of forest
on the banks of a broad river; in crossing this we must have killed him
had we not stopped to load.

On the sandy bed of this river we found the fresh tracks of several
elephants, who had evidently, only just retreated, being disturbed by
the shots fired; these were a portion of the herd; and the old rogue
having got his quietus, we pushed on as fast as we could upon the tracks
through fine open forest.

For about an hour we pressed on through forests, plains, rivers, and
thick jungles alternately, till at length upon arriving on some rising
ground, we heard the trumpet of an elephant.

It was fine country, but overgrown with lemon grass ten feet high.
Clumps of trees were scattered here and there among numerous small
dells. Exactly opposite lay several large masses of rock, shaded by
a few trees, and on our left lay a small hollow of high lemon grass,
bordered by jungle.

In this hollow we counted seven elephants: their heads and backs were
just discernible above the grass, as we looked over them from some
rising ground at about seventy yards distance. Three more elephants were
among the rocks, browsing upon the long grass.

We now heard unmistakable sounds of a large number of elephants in the
jungle below us, from which the seven elephants in the hollow had only
just emerged, and we quietly waited for the appearance of the whole
herd, this being their usual feeding-time.

One by one they majestically stalked from the jungle. We were
speculating on the probable number of this large herd, when one of them
suddenly winded us, and, with magical quickness, they all wheeled round
and rushed back into the jungle.

Calling upon my little troop of gun-bearers to keep close up, away we
dashed after them at full speed; down the steep hollow and through the
high lemon grass, now trampled into lanes by the retreating elephants.

In one instant the jungle seemed alive; there were upwards of fifty
elephants in the herd. The trumpets rang through the forest, the young
trees and underwood crashed in all directions with an overpowering
noise, as this mighty herd, bearing everything before it, crashed in one
united troop through the jungle.

At the extreme end of the grassy hollow there was a snug corner formed
by an angle in the jungle. A glade of fine short turf stretched for a
small distance into the forest, and, as the herd seemed to be bearing
down in this direction, Wortley and I posted off as hard as we could go,
hoping to intercept them if they crossed the glade. We arrived there in
a few moments, and taking our position on this fine level sward, about
ten paces from the forest, we awaited the apparently irresistible storm
that was bursting exactly upon us.

No pen, nor tongue can describe the magnificence of the scene; the
tremendous roaring of the herd, mingled with the shrill screams of other
elephants; the bursting stems of the broken trees; the rushing sound of
the leafy branches as though a tempest were howling through them--all
this concentrating with great rapidity upon the very spot upon which we
were standing.

This was an exciting moment, especially to nerves unaccustomed to the
sport.

The whole edge of the forest was faced with a dense network of creepers;
from the highest tree-tops to the ground they formed a leafy screen like
a green curtain, which clothed the forest as ivy covers the walls of
a house. Behind this opaque mass the great actors in the scene were at
work, and the whole body would evidently in a few seconds burst through
this leafy veil and be right upon us.

On they came, the forest trembling with the onset. The leafy curtain
burst into tatters; the jungle ropes and snaky stems, tearing the
branches from the treetops, were in a few moments heaped in a tangled
and confused ruin. One dense mass of elephants' heads, in full career,
presented themselves through the shattered barrier of creepers.

Running towards them with a loud holloa, they were suddenly checked by
our unexpected apparition, but the confused mass of elephants made the
shooting very difficult. Two elephants rushed out to cross the little
nook within four yards of me, and I killed both by a right and left
shot. Wallace immediately pushed a spare rifle into my hand, just as a
large elephant, meaning mischief, came straight towards me, with ears
cocked, from the now staggered body of the herd. I killed her with the
front shot, both barrels having gone off at once, the heavy charge of
powder in the right-hand barrel having started the trigger of the left
barrel by the concussion. Round wheeled the herd, leaving their three
leaders dead; and now the race began.

It was a splendid forest, and the elephants rushed off at about ten
miles an hour, in such a compact troop that their sterns formed a living
barrier, and not a head could be seen. At length, after a burst of about
two hundred yards, the deep and dry bed of a torrent formed a trench
about ten feet in width.

Not hesitating at this obstacle, down went the herd without missing
a step; the banks crumbled and half-filled the trench as the
leaders scrambled across, and the main body rushed after them at an
extraordinary pace.

I killed a large elephant in the act of crossing; he rolled into the
trench, but struggling to rise, I gave him the other barrel in the nape
of the neck, which, breaking his spine, extinguished him. He made a
noble bridge, and, jumping upon his carcass, we cleared the ravine, and
again the chase continued, although the herd had now gained about thirty
paces.

Upon a fine meadow of grass, about four feet high, the herd now
rushed along in a compact mass extending in a broad line of massive
hind-quarters over a surface of half an acre. This space formed a
complete street in their wake, as they levelled everything before them;
and the high grass stood up on either side like a wail.

Along this level road we ran at full speed, and by great exertions
managed to keep within twenty yards of the game. Full a quarter of a
mile was passed at this pace without a shot being fired. At length
one elephant turned and faced about exactly in front of me. My three
double-barrelled rifles were now all empty, and I was carrying the
little No. 16 gun. I killed him with the right-hand barrel, but I lost
ground by stopping to fire.

A jungle lay about two hundred yards in front of the herd, and they
increased their speed to arrive at this place of refuge.

Giving the little gun, with one barrel still loaded, to Wallace, I took
the four-ounce rifle in exchange, as I knew I could not close up with
the herd before they reached the jungle, and a long shot would be my
last chance. With this heavy gun (21 lbs.) I had hard work to keep my
distance, which was about forty yards from the herd.

Palliser and Wortley were before me, and within twenty yards of the
elephants. They neared the jungle; I therefore ran off to my left as
fast as I could go, so as to ensure a side-shot. I was just in time to
command their flank as the herd reached the jungle. A narrow river, with
steep banks of twenty feet in height, bordered the edge, and I got a
shot at a large elephant just as he arrived upon the brink of the chasm.
He was fifty paces off, but I hit him in the temple with the four-ounce,
and rolled him down the precipitous bank into the river. Here he lay
groaning; so, taking the little gun, with one barrel still loaded, I
extinguished him from the top of the bank.

Oh, for half-a-dozen loaded guns! I was now unloaded, and the fun began
in real earnest. The herd pushed for a particular passage down the steep
bank. It was like a rush at the door of the Opera; they jostled each
other in a confused melee, and crossed the river with the greatest
difficulty. By some bad luck Palliser and Wortley only killed one as
the herd was crossing the river, but they immediately disappeared in
pursuit, as the elephants, having effected their passage, retreated in
thick jungle on the other side.

I was obliged to halt to load, which I did as quickly as possible.
While I was ramming the balls down, I heard several shots fired in quick
succession, and when loaded, I ran on with my gun-bearers towards the
spot.

It was bad, thorny jungle, interspersed with numerous small glades of
fine turf.

Upon arriving in one of these glades, about a quarter of a mile beyond
the river, I saw a crowd of gun-bearers standing around some person
lying upon the ground. Neither Palliser nor Wortley were to be seen,
and for an instant a chill ran through me, as I felt convinced that some
accident had happened. 'Where are masters?' I shouted to the crowd of
men, and the next moment I was quite relieved by seeing only a coolie
lying on the ground. On examining the man I found he was more frightened
than hurt, although he was cut in several places and much bruised.

Upon giving a shout, Palliser and Wortley returned to the spot. They
now explained the mystery. They were running on the fresh tracks in this
glade, no elephants being then in sight, when they suddenly heard a rush
in the jungle, and in another instant two elephants charged out
upon them. Wortley and Palliser both fired, but without effect--the
gun-bearers bolted,--an elephant knocked one man over, and tried to
butt him against the ground; but two more shots from both Palliser and
Wortley turned him; they were immediately obliged to run in their turn,
as the other elephant charged, and just grazed Palliser with his trunk
behind. Fortunately, they doubled short round, instead of continuing a
straight course, and the elephants turned into the jungle. They followed
them for some little distance, but the jungles were so bad that there
was no chance, and they had returned when I had shouted.

The man who was hurt was obliged to be supported home. Two of the guns
were lost, which the gun-bearers in their fright had thrown away. After
a long search we found them lying in the high bushes.

We now returned along the line of hunt to cut off the elephants' tails.
I had fired at six, all of which were bagged; these we accordingly found
in their various positions. One of them was a very large female, with
her udder full of milk. Being very thirsty, both Wortley and I took a
long pull at this, to the evident disgust of the natives. It was very
good, being exactly like cow's milk. This was the elephant that I had
killed doubly by the left-hand barrel exploding by accident, and the two
balls were only a few inches apart in the forehead.

There had been very bad luck with this herd; the only dead elephant,
in addition to these six, was that which Wortley and Palliser had both
fired at in the river, and another which Palliser had knocked down in
the high grass when we had just commenced the attack--at which time he
had separated from us to cut off the three elephants that we had just
seen among the rocks.

On arrival at the spot where the elephants had first burst from the
jungle, a heavy shower came down, and the locks of the guns were
immediately covered each with a large leaf, and then tied up securely
with a handkerchief. A large banian tree afforded us an imaginary
shelter, but we were drenched to the skin in a few seconds. In the
meantime, Palliser walked through the high lemon grass to look for his
dead elephant.

On arriving at the spot, instead of finding a dead elephant, he found
him standing up, and only just recovered from the stunning effect of his
wound.

The elephant charged him immediately; and Palliser, having the lock of
his gun tied up, was perfectly defenceless, and he was obliged to run as
hard as his long legs would carry him.

'Look out! look out! an elephant's coming! Look out!'

This we heard shouted as we were standing beneath the tree, and the next
moment we saw Palliser's tall form of six feet four come flying through
the high grass. Luckily the elephant lost him, and turned off in some
other direction. If he had continued the chase, he would have made a
fine diversion, as the locks were so tightly tied up that we could not
have got a gun ready for some time. In a few minutes the shower cleared
off, and on examining the place where the elephant had fallen, we found
a large pool of clotted blood.

We now rode homeward, but we had not gone a quarter of a mile before we
heard an elephant roaring loudly in a jungle close to us. Thinking that
it was the wounded brute who had just hunted Palliser, we immediately
dismounted and approached the spot. The roaring continued until we were
close to it, and we then saw a young elephant standing in the bed of a
river, and he it was who was making all the noise, having been separated
from the herd in the late melee. Wortley shot him, this making eight
killed.

When within a mile of the tent, as we were riding along a path through a
thick thorny jungle, an immense rogue elephant stalked across our road.
I fired the four-ounce through his shoulder, to the great satisfaction
of Banda and the natives, although we never had a chance of proving what
the effect had been, as he was soon lost in the thick jungle. A short
time after this we reached the tent, having had the perfection of sport
in elephant-shooting, although luck had been against us in making a
large bag.

Dec. 2.--The scouts having been sent out at daybreak, returned early,
having found another herd of elephants. On our way to the spot, Palliser
fired at a rogue, but without effect.

On arrival at the jungle in which the elephants were reported to be, we
heard from the watchers that a rogue was located in the same jungle, in
attendance upon the herd. This was now a regular thing to expect, and
compelled us to be exceedingly cautious.

Just as we were stalking through the jungle on the track of the herd, we
came upon the rogue himself. Wortley fired at him, but without effect,
and unfortunately the shot frightened the herd, which was not a quarter
of a mile distant, and the elephants retreated to a large tract of thick
jungle country, where pursuit was impracticable. Our party was too large
for shooting 'rogues' with any degree of success. These brutes, being
always on the alert, require the most careful stalking. There is only
one way to kill them with any certainty. Two persons, at most, to
attack; each person to be accompanied by only one gunbearer, who should
carry two spare guns. One good tracker should lead this party of five
people in single file. With great caution and silence, being well to
leeward of the elephants, he can thus generally be approached till
within twelve paces, and he is then killed by one shot before he knows
that danger is near. What with our gun-bearers, trackers, watchers
and ourselves, we were a party of sixteen persons; it was therefore
impossible to get near a rogue unperceived.

On the way to the tent I got a shot at a deer at full gallop on 'old
Jack.' It was a doe, who bounded over the plain at a speed that soon
out-distanced my horse, and I took a flying shot from the saddle with
one of my No. 10 rifles. I did not get the deer, although she was badly
wounded, as we followed the blood-tracks for some distance through thick
jungle without success.

This was altogether a blank day; and having thoroughly disturbed this
part of the 'Park,' we determined to up stick and move our quarters on
the following day towards the 'Cave,' according to the plan that we had
agreed upon for beating the country.

Dec. 3.--With the cook and the canteen in company we started at break
of day, leaving the servants to pack up and bring the coolies and tents
after us. By this arrangement we were sure of our breakfast wherever
we went, and we were free from the noise of our followers, whose scent
alone was enough to alarm miles of country down wind. We had our guns
all loaded, and carried by our respective gun-bearers close to the
horses, and, with Banda, old Medima, and a couple of trackers, we were
ready for anything.

We had ridden about six miles when we suddenly came upon fresh
elephant-tracks in a grassy hollow, surrounded by low rocky hills. We
immediately sent the men off upon the tracks, while we waited upon a
high plateau of rock for their return. They came back in about a quarter
of an hour, having found the elephants within half a mile.

They were in high lemon grass, and upon arrival at the spot we could
distinguish nothing, as the grass rose some feet above our heads. It was
like shooting in the dark, and we ascended some rising ground to improve
our position. Upon arrival on this spot we looked over an undulating
sea of this grass, interspersed with rocky hills and small patches of
forest. Across a valley we now distinguished the herd, much scattered,
going off in all directions. They had winded us, and left us but a poor
chance of catching them in such ground. Of course we lost no time
in giving chase. The sun was intensely hot--not a breath of air was
stirring, and the heat in the close, parched grass was overpowering.
With the length of start that the elephants had got, we were obliged
to follow at our best pace, which, over such tangled ground, was very
fatiguing; fortunately, however, the elephants had not yet seen us, and
they had accordingly halted now and then, instead of going straight off.

There were only four elephants together, and, by a great chance we came
up with them just as they were entering a jungle. I got a shot at the
last elephant and killed him, but the others put on more steam, and all
separated, fairly beating us, as we were almost used up by the heat.

This was very bad luck, and we returned in despair of finding the
scattered herd. We had proceeded some distance through the high grass,
having just descended a steep, rocky hill, when we suddenly observed two
elephants approaching along the side of the very hill that we had just
left. Had we remained in the centre of the hill, we should have met
them as they advanced. One was a large female, and the other was most
probably her calf, being little more than half-grown.

It was a beautiful sight to see the caution with which they advanced,
and we lay down to watch them without being seen. They were about 200
yards from us, and, as they slowly advanced along the steep hillside,
they occasionally halted, and, with their trunks thrown up in the
air, they endeavoured, but in vain, to discover the enemy that had so
recently disturbed them. We had the wind all right, and we now crept
softly up the hill, so as to meet them at right angles. The hillside was
a mass of large rocks overgrown and concealed by the high lemon grass,
and it was difficult to move without making a noise, or falling into the
cavities between the rocks.

I happened to be at the head of our line, and, long before I expected
the arrival of the elephants, I heard a rustling in the grass, and the
next moment I saw the large female passing exactly opposite me, within
five or six paces. I was on half-cock at the time, as the ground was
dangerous to pass over with a gun on full cock, but I was just quick
enough to knock her over before the high grass should conceal her at
another step. She fell in a small chasm, nearly upsetting the young
elephant, who was close behind her. Wortley killed him, while I took the
last kick out of the old one by another shot, as she was still moving.

We had thus only killed three elephants out of the herd, and, without
seeing more, we returned to the horses.

On finding them, we proceeded on our road towards the 'Cave,' but had
not ridden above two miles farther when we again came upon fresh tracks
of elephants. Sending on our trackers like hounds upon their path, we
sat down and breakfasted under a tree. We had hardly finished the last
cup of coffee when the trackers returned, having found another herd.
They were not more than half a mile distant, and they were reported to
be in open forest, on the banks of a deep and broad river.

Our party was altogether too large for elephant shooting, as we never
could get close up to them without being discovered... As usual, they
winded us before we got near them, but by quick running we overtook
them just as they arrived on the banks of the river and took to water.
Wortley knocked over one fellow just as he thought he was safe in
running along the bottom of a deep gully; I floored his companion at the
same moment, thus choking up the gully, and six elephants closely packed
together forded the deep stream. The tops of their backs and heads
were alone above water. I fired the four-ounce into the nape of one
elephant's neck as the herd crossed, and he immediately turned over and
lay foundered in the middle of the river, which was sixty or seventy
yards across.

In the mean time Palliser and Wortley kept up a regular volley, but no
effects could be observed until the herd reached and began to ascend the
steep bank on the opposite side. I had reloaded the four-ounce, and the
heavy battery now began to open a concert with the general volley, as
the herd scrambled up the precipitous bank. Several elephants fell, but
recovered themselves and disappeared. At length the volley ceased, and
two were seen, one dead on the top of the bank, and the other still
struggling in the shallow water at the foot. Once more a general battery
opened; and he was extinguished. Five were killed; and if noise and
smoke add to the fun, there was certainly plenty of it. Wortley and my
man Wallace now swam across the river and cut off the elephants' tails.

We returned to the horses, and moved to the 'Cave,' meeting with no
farther incidents that day.

Dec. 4--We saw nothing but deer the whole of the day, and they were so
wild that we could not get a shot. It was therefore a blank.

Dec. 5--We started early, and for five miles we tracked a large herd of
elephants through fine open country, until we were at length stopped
by impenetrable jungle of immense extent, forming the confines of the
'Park' on this side. We therefore reluctantly left the tracks, and
directed our course towards Pattapalaar, about twelve miles distant.

We had passed over a lovely country, and were within a mile of our
proposed resting-place, when Banda, who happened to be a hundred yards
in advance, came quickly back, saying that he saw a rogue elephant
feeding on the patina not far from us. Wortley had gone in another
direction with old Medima a few minutes previous to look for a deer; and
Palliser and I resolved to stalk him carefully. We therefore left all
the people behind, except two gun-bearers, each of whom carried one of
my double-barrelled rifles. I carried my four-ounce, and Palliser took
the two-ounce.

It was most difficult ground for stalking, being entirely open, on a
spot which had been high lemon grass but recently burnt, the long reeds
in many places still remaining.

We could not get nearer than fifty yards in such ground, and I
accordingly tried a shot at his temple with the four-ounce. The long
unburnt stalks of the lemon grass waving to and fro before the sights
of my rifle so bothered me that I missed the fatal spot, and fired
about two inches too high. Stumbling only for a moment from the blow, he
rushed down hill towards a jungle, but at the same instant Palliser made
a capital shot with the long two-ounce and knocked him over. I never saw
an elephant fall with such a crash: they generally sink gently down;
but this fellow was going at such speed down hill that he fairly pitched
upon his head.

We arrived at our resting-place, and having erected the tents, we gave
them up to Banda and the servants, while we took possession of a large
'amblam', or open building, massively built by the late Major Rodgers,
which is about twenty-five feet square. This we arranged in a most
comfortable manner, and here we determined to remain for some days,
while we beat the whole country thoroughly.

Dec. 6.-We started at our usual early hour with Banda and the trackers,
and after a walk of about a mile, we found fresh tracks and followed up.
Crossing a small river upon the track, we entered a fine open forest,
through which the herd had only just passed, and upon following them for
about a quarter of a mile, we came to a barrier of dense chenar jungle,
into which the elephants had retreated.

There was a rogue with this herd, and we were rather doubtful of his
position. We stood in the open forest, within a few feet of the thick
jungle, to the edge of which the elephants were so close that we could
hear their deep breathing; and by stooping down we could distinguish
the tips of their trunks and feet, although the animals themselves were
invisible. We waited about half an hour in the hope that some of the
elephants might again enter the open forest; at length two, neither
of whom were above five feet high, came out and faced us. My dress
of elastic green tights had become so browned by constant washing and
exposure, that I matched exactly with the stem of a tree against which I
was leaning, and one of the elephants kept advancing towards me until I
could nearly touch him with my rifle; still he did not see me, and I did
not wish to fire, as I should alarm the herd, which would then be lost
for ever. Unfortunately, just at this moment, the other elephant saw
Palliser, and the alarm was given. There was no help for it, and we were
obliged to fire. Mine fell dead, but the other fell, and, recovering
himself immediately, he escaped in the thick jungle.

This was bad luck, and we returned towards the 'amblam' to breakfast. On
our way there we found that the 'rogue' had concealed himself in a piece
of thick jungle, backed by hills of very high lemon grass. From this
stronghold we tried to drive him, and posted ourselves in a fine
position to receive him should he break cover; but he was too cunning
to come out, and the beaters were too knowing to go in to drive such bad
jungle; it was, therefore, a drawn game, and we were obliged to leave
him.

When within a short distance of the 'amblam', a fine black partridge
got up at about sixty yards. I was lucky enough to knock him over with a
rifle, and still more fortunate in not injuring him much with the ball,
which took his wing off close to his body. Half an hour afterwards he
formed part of our breakfast.

During our meal a heavy shower of rain came down, and continued for
about two hours.

In the afternoon we sallied out, determined to shoot at any large game
that we might meet. We had lately confined our sport to elephants, as
we did not wish to disturb the country by shooting at other game; but
having fired in this neighbourhood during the morning, we were not very
particular.

We walked through a lovely country for about five miles, seeing nothing
whatever in the shape of game, not even a track, as all the old marks
were washed out by the recent shower. At length we heard the barking of
deer in the distance, and, upon going in that direction, we saw a fine
herd of about thirty. They were standing in a beautiful meadow of about
a hundred acres in extent, perfectly level, and interspersed with trees,
giving it the appearance of an immense orchard rather thinly planted.
One side of this plain was bounded by a rocky mountain, which rose
precipitously from its base, the whole of which was covered with fine
open forest.

We were just stalking towards the deer when we came upon a herd of wild
buffaloes in a small hollow, within a close shot.

Palliser wanted a pair of horns, and he was just preparing for a shot,
when we suddenly heard the trumpet of an elephant in the forest at the
foot of the rocky mountains close to us.

Elephants, buffaloes, and deer were all within a hundred yards of each
other: we almost expected to see Noah's ark on the top of the hill.

Of course the elephants claimed our immediate attention. It was
Palliser's turn to lead the way; and upon entering the forest at the
foot of the mountain, we found that the elephants were close to us.
The forest was a perfect place for elephant-shooting. Large rocks were
scattered here and there among the fine trees, free from underwood;
these rocks formed alleys of various widths, and upon such ground an
elephant had no chance.

There was a large rock the size of a small house lying within a few
yards from the entrance of the forest. This rock was split in two
pieces, forming a passage of two feet wide, but of several yards in
length. As good luck would have it, an elephant stood exactly on the
other side, and, Palliser leading the way, we advanced through this
secure fort to the attack.

On arrival at the extreme end, Palliser fired two quick shots, and,
taking a spare gun, he fired a third, before we could see what was going
on, we being behind him in this narrow passage. Upon passing through
we thought the fun was over. He had killed three elephants, and no more
were to be seen anywhere.

Hardly had he reloaded, however, when we heard a tremendous rushing
through the forest in the distance; and, upon quickly running to the
spot, we came upon a whole herd of elephants, who were coming to meet us
in full speed. Upon seeing us, however, they checked their speed for a
moment, and Palliser and Wortley both fired, which immediately turned
them. This was at rather too long a distance, and no elephants were
killed.

A fine chase now commenced through the open forest, the herd rushing off
pele mele. This pace soon took us out of it, and we burst upon an
open plain of high lemon grass. Here I got a shot at an elephant, who
separated from the main body, and I killed him.

The pace was now so great that the herd fairly distanced us in the
tangled lemon grass, which, though play to them, was very fatiguing to
us.

Upon reaching the top of some rising ground I noticed several elephants,
at about a quarter of a mile distant upon my left in high grass, while
the remaining portion of the herd (three elephants) were about two
hundred yards ahead, and were stepping out at full speed straight before
us.

Wortley had now had plenty of practice, and shot his elephants well. He
and Palliser followed the three elephants, while I parted company and
ran towards the other section of the herd, who were standing on some
rising ground, and were making a great roaring.

On arriving within a hundred yards of them, I found I had caught a
'Tartar'. It is a very different thing creeping up to an unsuspecting
herd and attacking them by surprise, to marching up upon sheer open
ground to a hunted one with wounded elephants among them, who have
regularly stood at bay. This was now the case. The ground was perfectly
open, and the lemon grass was above my head: thus I could only see the
exact position of the elephants every now and then, by standing upon the
numerous little rocks that were scattered here and there. The elephants
were standing upon some rising ground, from which they watched every
movement as I approached. They continued to growl without a moment's
intermission, being enraged not only from the noise of the firing, but
on account of two calves which they had with them, and which I could
not see in the high grass. There was a gentle rise in the ground within
thirty paces of the spot upon which they stood; and to this place I
directed my steps with great care, hiding in the high grass as I crept
towards them.

During the whole of this time, guns were firing without intermission
in the direction taken by Palliser and Wortley, thus keeping my game
terribly on the qui vive. What they were firing so many shots at, I
could not conceive.

At length I reached the rising ground. The moment that I was discovered
by them, the two largest elephants came towards me, with their ears
cocked and their trunks raised.

I waited for a second or two till they lowered their trunks, which they
presently did; and taking a steady shot with one of my doubled-barrelled
No. 10 rifles, I floored them both by a right and left. One, however,
immediately recovered, and, with the blood streaming from his forehead,
he turned and retreated with the remainder of the herd at great speed
through the high grass.

The chase required great caution. However, they fortunately took to a
part of the country where the grass was not higher than my shoulders,
and I could thus see well over it. Through this, I managed to keep
within fifty yards of the herd, and I carried the heavy four-ounce
rifle, which I knew would give one of them a benefit if he turned to
charge.

I was following the herd at this distance when they suddenly halted, and
the wounded elephant turned quickly round, and charged with a right good
intention. He carried his head thrown back in such a position that
I could not get a fair shot, but, nevertheless, the four-ounce ball
stopped him, and away he went again with the herd at full speed, the
blood gushing in streams from the wound in his head.

My four-ounce is a splendid rifle for loading quickly, it being so
thick in the metal that the deep groove catches the belt of the ball
immediately. I was loaded in a few seconds, and again set off in
pursuit; I saw the herd at about 200 yards distant; they had halted, and
they had again faced about.

I had no sooner approached within sixty paces of them, than the wounded
elephant gave a trumpet, and again rushed forward out of the herd. His
head was so covered with blood, and was still thrown back in such a
peculiar position, that I could not get a shot at the exact mark. Again
the four-ounce crashed through his skull, and, staggered with the blow,
he once more turned and retreated with the herd.

Loading quickly, I poured the powder down AD LIBITUN, and ran after the
herd, who had made a circuit to arrive in the same forest in which we
had first found them. A sharp run brought me up to them; but upon seeing
me they immediately stopped, and, without a moment's pause, round came
my old antagonist again, straight at me, with his head still raised in
the same knowing position. The charge of powder was so great that it
went off like a young fieldpiece, and the elephant fell upon his knees;
but, again recovering himself, he turned and went off at such a pace
that he left the herd behind, and in a few minutes I was within twenty
yards of them; I would not fire, as I was determined to bag my wounded
bird before I fired a single shot at another.

They now reached the forest, but, instead of retreating, the wounded
elephant turned short round upon the very edge of the jungle and faced
me; the remaining portion of the herd (consisting of two large elephants
and two calves) had passed on into the cover.

This was certainly a plucky elephant; his whole face was a mass of
blood, and he stood at the very spot where the herd had passed into the
forest, as though he was determined to guard the entrance. I was now
about twenty-five yards from him, when, gathering himself together for a
decisive charge, he once more came on.

I was on the point of pulling the trigger, when he reeled, and
fell without a shot, from sheer exhaustion; but recovering himself
immediately, he again faced me, but did not move. This was a fatal
pause. He forgot the secret of throwing his head back, and he now held
it in the natural position, offering a splendid shot at about twenty
yards. Once more the four-ounce buried itself in his skull, and he fell
dead.

Palliser and Wortley came up just as I was endeavouring to track up the
herd, which I had now lost sight of in the forest. Following upon their
tracks, we soon came in view of them. Away we went as fast as we could
run towards them, but I struck my shin against a fallen tree, which cut
me to the bone, and pitched me upon my head. The next moment, however,
we were up with the elephants: they were standing upon a slope of rock
facing us, but regularly dumbfounded at their unremitting pursuit; they
all rolled over to a volley as we came up, two of them being calves.
Palliser killed the two biggest right and left, he being some paces in
advance.

This was one of the best hunts that I have ever shared in. The chase had
lasted for nearly an hour. There had been thirteen elephants originally
in the herd, every one of which had been bagged by fair running. Wortley
had fired uncommonly well, as he had killed the three elephants which he
and Palliser had chased, one of which had given them a splendid run and
had proved restive. The elephant took fifteen shots before she fell,
and this accounted for the continual firing which I had heard during my
chase of the other section. We had killed fourteen elephants during the
day, and we returned to the 'amblam', having had as fine sport as Ceylon
can afford.

December 7.--This, being Sunday, was passed in quiet; but a general
cleaning of guns took place, to be ready for the morrow.

Dec. 8.--We went over many miles of ground without seeing a fresh track.
We had evidently disturbed the country on this side of the river, and
we returned towards the 'amblam', determined to cross the river after
breakfast and try the opposite side.

When within a mile of the 'amblam' we heard deer barking, and, leaving
all our gun-bearers and people behind, we carefully stalked to the spot.
The ground was very favourable, and, having the wind, we reached an
excellent position among some trees within sixty yards of the herd of
deer, who were standing in a little glade. Wortley and I each killed a
buck; Palliser wounded a doe, which we tracked for a great distance by
the blood, but at length lost altogether.

After breakfast we crossed the large river which flows near the
'amblam', and then entered a part of the 'Park' that we had not yet
beaten.

Keeping to our left, we entered a fine forest, and skirted the base of
a range of rocky mountains. In this forest we saw deer and wild buffalo,
but we would not fire a shot, as we had just discovered the fresh track
of a rogue elephant. We were following upon this, when we heard a bear
in some thick jungle. We tried to circumvent him, but in vain; Bruin was
too quick for us, and we did not get a sight of him.

We were walking quietly along the dry bed of a little brook bordered
by thick jungle upon either side, when we were suddenly roused by a
tremendous crash through the jungle, which was evidently coming straight
upon us.

We were in a most unfavourable position, but there was no time for any
farther arrangement than bringing the rifle on full cock, before six
elephants, including the 'rogue' whose tracks we were following, burst
through the jungle straight at us.

Banda was nearly run over, but with wonderful agility he ran up some
tangled creepers hanging from the trees, just as a spider would climb
his web. He was just in time, as the back of one of the elephants grazed
his feet as it passed below him.

In the meantime the guns were not idle. Wortley fired at the leading
elephant, which had passed under Banda's feet, just as he was crossing
the brook on our left. His shot did not produce any effect, but I killed
him by a temple-shot as he was passing on. Palliser, who was on our
right, killed two, and knocked down a third, who was about half-grown.
This fellow got up again, and Wortley and Palliser, both firing at the
same moment, extinguished him.

The herd had got themselves into a mess by rushing down upon our scent
in this heedless manner, as four of them lay dead within a few paces of
each other. The 'rogue', who knew how to take care of himself, escaped
with only one companion. Upon these tracks we now followed without loss
of time.

An hour was thus occupied. We tracked them through many glades and
jungles, till we at length discovered in a thick chenar the fresh tracks
of another herd, which the 'rogue' and his companion had evidently
joined, as his immense footprint was very conspicuous among the numerous
marks of the troop. Passing cautiously through a thick jungle, we at
length emerged upon an extensive tract of high lemon grass. There was
a small pool of water close to the edge of the jungle, which was
surrounded with the fresh dung of elephants, and the muddy surface was
still agitated by the recent visit of some of these thirsty giants.

Carefully ascending some slightly rising ground, and keeping close to
the edge of the jungle, we peered over the high grass.

We were in the centre of the herd, who were much scattered. It was very
late, being nearly dusk, but we counted six elephants here and there
in the high grass within sixty paces of us, while the rustling in the
jungle to our left, warned us, that a portion of the herd had not yet
quitted this cover. We knew that the 'rogue' was somewhere close at
hand, and after his recent defeat he would be doubly on the alert. Our
plans therefore required the greatest vigilance.

There was no doubt as to the proper course to pursue, which was to
wait patiently until the whole herd should have left the jungle and
concentrated in the high grass; but the waning daylight did not permit
of such a steady method of proceeding. I then proposed that we should
choose our elephants, which were scattered in the high grass, and
advance separately to the attack. Palliser voted that we should creep up
to the elephants that were in the jungle close to us, instead of going
into the high grass.

I did not much like this plan, as I knew that it would be much darker in
the jungle than in the patina, and there was no light to spare. However,
Palliser crept into the jungle, towards the spot where we heard the
elephants crashing the bushes.

Instead of following behind him, I kept almost in a line, but a few feet
on one side, otherwise I knew that should he fire, I should see nothing
for the smoke of his shot. This precaution was not thrown away. The
elephants were about fifty yards from the entrance to the jungle, and we
were of course up to them in a few minutes. Palliser took a steady shot
at a fine elephant about eight yards from him, and fired.

The only effect produced was a furious charge right into us!

Away went all the gun-bearers except Wallace as hard as they could run,
completely panic-stricken. Palliser and Wortley jumped to one side to
get clear of the smoke, which hung like a cloud before them; and having
taken my position with the expectation of something of this kind, I
had a fine clear forehead shot as the elephant came rushing on; and I
dropped him dead.

The gun-bearers were in such a fright that they never stopped till they
got out on the patina.

The herd had of course gone off at the alarm of the firing, and we got
a glimpse of the old 'rogue' as he was taking to the jungle. Palliser
fired an ineffectual shot at him at a long range, and the day closed. It
was moonlight when we reached the 'amblam': the bag for that day being
five elephants, and two bucks.

Dec. 9.--We had alarmed this part of the country; and after spending a
whole morning in wandering over a large extent of ground without seeing
a fresh track of an elephant, we determined to move on to Nielgalla,
eight miles from the 'amblam.' We accordingly packed up, and started off
our coolies by the direct path, while we made a long circuit by another
route, in the hope of meeting with heavy game.

After riding about four miles, our path lay through a dense forest up
the steep side of a hill. Over this was a narrow road, most difficult
for a horse to ascend, on account of the large masses of rocks, which
choked the path from the base to the summit. Leaving the horse-keepers
with the horses to scramble up as they best could, we took our guns and
went on in advance. We had nearly reached the summit of this pass, when
we came suddenly upon some fragments of chewed leaves and branches,
lying in the middle of the path. The saliva was still warm upon them,
and the dung of an elephant lay in the road in a state which proved his
close vicinity. There were no tracks, of course, as the path was
nothing but a line of piled rocks, from which the forest had been lately
cleared, and the elephants had just been disturbed by the clattering of
the horses' hoofs in ascending the rugged pass.

Banda had run on in front about fifty yards before us, but we had no
sooner arrived on the summit of the hill, than we saw him returning at a
flying pace towards us, with an elephant chasing him in full speed.

It was an exciting scene while it lasted: with the activity of a deer,
he sprang from rock to rock, while we of course ran to his assistance,
and arrived close to the elephant just as Banda had reached a high block
of stone, which furnished him an asylum. A shot from Palliser brought
the elephant upon his knees, but, immediately recovering himself, he
ran round a large rock. I ran round the other side, and killed him dead
within four paces.

Upon descending the opposite side of the pass, we arrived in flat
country, and on the left of the road we saw another elephant, a 'rogue',
in high lemon grass. We tried to get a shot at him, but it was of
no use; the grass was so high and thick, that after trying several
experiments, we declined following him in such ground. We arrived at
Nielgalla in the evening without farther sport: here we killed a few
couple of snipe in the paddy-fields, which added to our dinner.

Dec. 10.--Having beaten several miles of country without seeing any
signs of elephants, we came unexpectedly upon a herd of wild buffaloes;
they were standing in beautiful open ground, interspersed with trees,
about a hundred and ten paces from us. I gave Palliser my heavy rifle,
as he was very anxious to get a pair of good horns, and with the
pleasure of a spectator I watched the sport. He made a good shot with
the four-ounce, and dropped the foremost buffalo; the herd galloped
off but he broke the hind leg of another buffalo with one of the No. 10
rifles, and, after a chase of a couple of hundred yards, he came up with
the wounded beast, who could not extricate himself from a deep gully of
water, as he could not ascend the steep bank on three legs. A few more
shots settled him.

We gave up all ideas of elephants for this day after so much firing;
but, curious enough, just as we were mounting our horses, we heard
the roar of an elephant in a jungle on the hillside about half a mile
distant. There was no mistaking the sound, and we were soon at the spot.
This jungle was very extensive, and the rocky bed of a mountain-torrent
divided it into two portions; on the right hand was fine open forest,
and on the left thorny chenar. The elephants were in the open forest,
close to the edge of the torrent.

The herd winded us just as we were approaching up the steep ascent of
the rocky stream, and they made a rush across the bed of the torrent to
gain the thick jungle on the opposite bank. Banda immediately beckoned
to me to come into the jungle with the intention of meeting the
elephants as they entered, while Palliser was to command the narrow
passage, in which there was only space for one person to shoot, without
confusion.

In the mean time, Palliser knocked over three elephants as they crossed
the stream, while we, on reaching the thick jungle, found it so dense
that we could see nothing. Just as we were thinking of returning again
to the spot that we had left, we heard a tremendous rush in the bush,
coming straight towards us. In another instant I saw a mass of twisted
and matted thorns crashing in a heap upon me. I had barely time to jump
on one side, as the elephant nearly grazed me, and I fired both barrels
into the tangled mass that he bore upon his head. I then bolted, and
took up a good position at a few yards' distance. The shots in the head
had so completely stunned the elephant that she could not move. She
now stood in a piece of jungle so dense that we could not see her, and
Palliser creeping up to her, while we stood ready to back him, fired
three shots without the least effect. She did not even move, being
senseless with the wound. One of my men then gave him my four-ounce
rifle. A loud report from the old gun sounded the elephant's knell, and
closed the sport for that trip.

We returned to Nielgalla, the whole of that day's bag belonging to
Palliser--four elephants and two buffaloes. We packed up our traps, and
early the next morning we started direct for Newera Ellia, having
in three weeks from the day of our departure from Kandy bagged fifty
elephants, five deer, and two buffaloes; of which, Wortley had killed to
his bag, ten elephants and two deer; Palliser sixteen elephants and two
buffaloes; V. Baker, up to the time of his leaving us, two elephants.



CHAPTER XII.

CONCLUSION.

Thus ended a trip, which exhibited the habits and character of elephants
in a most perfect manner. From the simple experience of these three
weeks' shooting a novice might claim some knowledge of the elephant;
and the journal of this tour must at once explain, even to the most
uninitiated, the exact proportion of risk with which this sport is
attended, when followed up in a sportsmanlike manner. These days will
always be looked back to by me with the greatest pleasure. The moments
of sport lose none of their brightness by age, and when the limbs become
enfeebled by time, the mind can still cling to scenes long past, with
the pleasure of youth.

One great addition to the enjoyment of wild sport is the companionship
of thorough sportsmen. A confidence in each other is absolutely
necessary; without this, I would not remain a day in the jungle. An even
temper, not easily disturbed by the little annoyances inseparable from a
trip in a wild country, is also indispensable; without this, a man would
be insufferable. Our party was an emblem of contentment. The day's
sport concluded, the evenings were most enjoyable, and will never be
forgotten. The well arranged tent, the neatly-spread table, the beds
forming a triangle around the walls, and the clean guns piled in a long
row against the gun-rack, will often recall a tableau in after years, in
countries far from this land of independence. The acknowledged sports of
England will appear child's play; the exciting thrill will be wanting,
when a sudden rush in the jungle brings the rifle on full cock; and the
heavy guns will become useless mementoes of past days, like the
dusty helmets of yore, hanging up in an old hall. The belt and the
hunting-knife will alike share the fate of the good rifle, and the
blade, now so keen, will blunt from sheer neglect. The slips, which have
held the necks of dogs of such staunch natures, will hang neglected from
the wall; and all these souvenirs of wild sports, contrasted with the
puny implements of the English chase, will awaken once more the longing
desire, for the 'Rifle and Hound in Ceylon'.





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