CuAr. IV.] THE SALT LAKES. 473 



was at Jaffna in search of elephants for the_'Eaja of 

 Sattara. 



The Panickeas, or elephant hunters of Eraoor, use 

 no arms or apparatus of any kind, except a noosed 

 rope, with whicli they steal upon the elephant when at 

 rest ; and whilst one of the party provokes liim in 

 front till he puts himself in motion, another shps the 

 noose over his foot as he raises it beliind, and at once 

 brings him up by taking a turn of the rope round the 

 nearest tree. Formerly, in passing through the villages, 

 it was customary to see two or three elephants so^^ cap- 

 tured, and made fast to stakes near the houses of the 

 panickeas, to await the arrival of purchasers. Now the 

 only employment of hunters is the occasional search 

 after buffaloes, that break away from the village to 

 join the wild herds in the marshes and jungles, where 

 they are followed and brought back by these stealthy 

 pursuers. 



The first great river which we crossed, north of Bat- 

 ticaloa, Avas the Natoor, which discharges itself into the 

 sea at the beautifid Bay of Venloos. We rowed down 

 it from Chittandy in a double canoe, formed of two hol- 

 lowed trees laid side by side, jomed by a platform, and 

 covered with an awning of white cloth. Its stream is 

 wide and rapid, studded with numerous fertile islands, 

 and is navigable for a considerable distance westward ; 

 but its course has never been thoroughly explored by 

 Europeans. Numbers of the Coast Veddahs have 

 recently settled in the forests near its mouth, and 

 are now engaged as fishermen in the bay, each of the 

 families cultivating a little patch of rice near his own 

 dwelhng. 



The scenery round Yenloos Bay is charming. The 

 sea is overhung by gentle acchvities wooded to the sum- 

 mit ; and in an opening between two of these the river 

 flows through a cluster of httle islands covered with 

 mangroves and acacias. A bar of rocks pi'ojects across 

 it, at a short distance from the shore ; and these are ire- 



