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



thought in the dim moonhght, moving, he fired a couple of barrels 

 at it and returned home. Next morning, on going to see what damage 

 his bullets had done, he found he had fired at the dead elephant, the 

 ballet holes being plainly visible on his flanks ; one of the party 

 detected a movement under the skin, and on its being lifted a full- 

 grown pig was found, shot through the body : G. never eat pork 

 afterwards." Since Q. told me this, I have made inquiries, and hear 

 that pigs always attack carcases, and biting a hole in the soft part of 

 the belly, they get inside and tear away the flesh, leaving only a thin 

 layer of skin over the bones. I have this on midoubted authority. 

 While we were chatting we heard the drumming of elephants in the 

 tank, and directly saUied out in our paijamehs and shirts; mine being 

 very light and conspicuous in the moonlight, Q. left me in ambush, 

 while he and the guide crept down the back water. I could not help 

 musing on the strange scene, and thinking how our friends in England 

 would have wondered to have seen us. There I stood, on a March 

 night, in the thinnest possible garments, with my shirt-sleeves cut off 

 about the elbow for coolness, and my bare feet thrust into a pair of 

 slippers, a rifle in my hand, and a double gun propped against a tree, 

 waiting for an animal whose gigantic power was unrivalled, and 

 plainly exhibited by the crashing of the boughs all around me. At 

 some little distance lay Q. and the guide, taking advantage of any 

 tuft of grass and the passage of clouds over the moon to creep up the 

 back water, where we heard most of the elephants. Huge masses of 

 clouds steadily rising to the eastward, vrith frequent flashes of light- 

 ning, foretold the approach of an eastern storm ; occasionally an 

 alligator would rear up his head within a few feet of me, and blowing 

 sink again to his muddy lair; from the marshy field before me 

 sounded the croaking of frogs and " creeping things innumerable" ; 

 the bleat of the elk or deer fell occasionally on the ear, mingled with 

 the wail of the jackal and the " waffh" of the little owl {Scops 

 Lemjnji). Ensconced in my ambush and every sense on the alert, I 

 detected a slight rustle, and then the well-known "chick, chick" of 

 the natives ; looking in the direction of the sound, I saw a hand held 

 out from a bush, with three fingers elevated ; another, and another, 

 told of five elephants on the tank. How impatiently did I listen for 

 Q.'s gun ! but presently he himself stood before me, with the un- 

 welcome news that the elephants had gone over the bund into the 

 village. Tired with my last night's vigil, and having to start by 

 4 A.M., it being now past 12, I retraced my steps home, leaving Q., 

 who said he would go up the tank and round by the back of the 

 village after the track . Half asleep, I threaded my way through the 

 jungle, and gained the open space in front of the village, where, as is 

 usual, all the cattle were tethered ; the prowling jackal sneaked away 

 at my approach and I gained the entrance of my tent, when, for- 

 getting the lowness of the roofi I struck my temple against a roof- 

 stick, and staggering fell senseless on the couch ; how long I lay I 

 cannot tell, but I was roused by the reports of Q.'s guns in quick 

 succession, and when Q. came in I was sitting up, staring wildly about. 

 It appeared that the moment I had left the tank, a dark object that Q. 



