144 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



of the dark background of jungle. Elk, deer, buffa- 

 loes and hogs were all bathing and drinking in immense 

 numbers, but there were no elephants. 



For some hours we watched the accumulation of 

 game ; there was not a breath of air, although the scud 

 was flying fast above us, occasionally throwing a veil 

 over the moon and casting a sudden obscurity on the 

 dim scene before us. Our gun-bearers were crouched 

 around us ; their dark skins matching with the ground 

 on' which they squatted, they looked like so many 

 stumps of trees. It was nearly ten o'clock, and my 

 eyes ached with watching ; several times I found my-- 

 self nodding as sleep took me by surprise ; so, leaving 

 a man to look out, we sat quietly down and discussed a 

 cold fowl that we had brought with us. 



We had just finished a pint bottle of cherry brandy 

 when I felt a gentle touch upon my shoulder, and our 

 lookout man whispered in my ear the magic word 

 " alia" (elephant), at the same time pointing in the 

 direction of the tank. The guns were all wrapped up 

 in a blanket to keep them from the dew, so telling W. 

 to uncover them and to distribute them to the respective 

 gun-bearers without noise, I crept out and stole unper- 

 ceived along the margin of the tank to discover the 

 number and position of the elephants. So deceitful 

 was the moonlight, being interrupted by the dark 

 shadows of the jungle, that I was within ten paces of 

 the nearest elephant before I distinguished her. I 

 counted three elephants one large and two others about 

 six feet high. Being satisfied with my information, and 

 having ascertained that no others were in the jungle, I 

 returned to my companions : they were all ready, and 

 we crept forward. We were within ten paces of the 



