Mr. E. L. Layard's Rambles in Ceylon. 333 



of miles, reached the madam, or rest-house, the portico of a heathen 

 temple, and soon Pulliar's shrine was polluted by a smoking breakfast. 

 While discussing this, I felt a cold nose thrust into my hand, and, 

 behold! Q.'sbig black dog '*Ponto ; " in a few moments Q. himself, 

 rifle in hand, stood before me, bare-footed, with his shoes on his back ! 

 not having waited to put " them on since crossing the ford ! Break- 

 fast was soon discussed, and after packing our bandies we sent them 

 on to Condaville by the old road, while we went a new and shorter 

 track, which Q. was to open. Occasionally dismounting to have a 

 shot at the numerous hares and partridges with which this flat country 

 and low jungle abounded, we reached Condaville, and after stabUng 

 our horses we turned out for a shot at a deer. We found them very 

 wild, but managed to get a shot each, and both dropt our quarry, but 

 owing to the darkness we failed in securing them ; so they were left 

 as a prey to the natives, who never fail to follow them up with 

 their mute pariah dogs and almost invariably find them. 



While threading our way homeward through the jungle, Q. sud- 

 denly sprang aside, and by the dim twilight I discerned a huge cobra 

 coiled up ready for his spring : a charge from the little gun nearly cut 

 him in half, to the great disgust of the natives, who blamed us for 

 shooting a high-caste snake ! A native will never kill a cobra ; if he 

 catches one about his premises, he will simply remove it to a distance 

 and turn it loose. I know of one instance in which an old woman, 

 finding one in her mat, seized it by the neck and flung it out of the 

 room ; the reptile returned infuriated, bit her, and she died. ** Well,'* 

 said her relatives, "it was her/a^e" ! ! ! 



The cobra is rather a sluggish snake ; it inhabits old white ants' 

 (Termites) nests, out of which it is often driven by the rains, when 

 they may be frequently encountered in the jungle : it feeds principally 

 on toads, which it captures in holes. I once watched one which had 

 thrust its head through a narrow aperture and swallowed one. With 

 this encumbrance he could not withdraw himself : findmg this, he 

 reluctantly disgorged the precious morsel, which began to move off ; 

 this was too much for snake-philosophy to bear, and the toad was 

 again seized, and again, after violent efforts to escape, was the snake 

 compelled to part with it. This time however a lesson had been 

 learnt, and the toad was seized by one leg, withdrawn, and then 

 swallowed in triumph. Once, and once only, have I seen a snake 

 chase its prey : it was in a paddy-field, and the snake was the common 

 species found in such situations ; the frog dived and leaped and adopted 

 all kinds of manoeuvres to escape ; the snake followed closely, rearing 

 itself up to watch its quarry, and again pursuing it with all the 

 keenness of a beagle. I stood perfectly still and watched this strange 

 hunt for nearly an hour, and rejoiced to find that froggy baffled his 

 enemy at last. 



While discussing our dinner, Q. said, " You remember the man we 

 saw this morning in the road, with the old musket ? " " To be sure," 

 said I. '* Well," resumed Q., " that man is a most fearless elephant- 

 hunter ; 1 believe I gave him a taste for it in the following manner. 

 I was opening the very road we came along tonight, and having 



