The Elk, or " Saml&r Deer." 29 



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-barreled rifles, say from No. 

 10 to No. 12 in size, but all to be the same bore, so as 

 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 ac- 

 count 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 color 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 mucfi 



