The Rifle and Hound in Ceylong | Page 7

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 --Wiharewel1e--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