82 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



mark exactly in the centre, which pleased these natives 

 exceedingly, and they returned in safety with the tail. 



I have frequently tried these long shots since, but I 

 never succeeded again except once, and that was not 

 satisfactory, as the elephant did not die upon the spot, 

 but was found by the natives on the following day. 



On my return to the village I took a short gun and 

 strolled along the banks of the lake. The snipe were 

 innumerable, and I killed them till my head ached with 

 the constant recoil of the gun -in addition to the heat. 

 I also killed several couple of ducks and teal in addi- 

 tion to tw'enty-eight couple of snipe. This was the Para- 

 dise for sport at the time of which I write. It had 

 never been disturbed : but it has since shared the fate 

 of many other places. 



The open forest in the vicinity of the lake abounded 

 with deer. Grassy glades beneath the shady trees give 

 a park-like appearance to the scene, and afford a de- 

 lightful resort for the deer. 



In strolling through these shady glades, you suddenly 

 arrive among the ruins of ancient Pollanarua. The 

 palaces are crumbled into shapeless mounds of bricks. 

 Massive pillars, formed of a single stone some twelve 

 feet high, stand in upright rows throughout the jungle 

 here and there over an extent of miles of country. The 

 buildings which they once supported have long since 

 fallen, and the pillars now stand like tombstones over 

 vanished magnificence. Some buildings are still stand- 

 ing ; among these are two dagobas, huge monuments 

 of bricks, formerly covered with white cement and 

 elaborately decorated with different devices. These are 

 shaped like an egg which has been cut nearly in half 

 and then placed upon its base ; but the cement has per- 



