148 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



readiness for a start, after an early breakfast, on the fol- 

 lowing morning. The servants were engaged in ar- 

 ranging for the departure, when a native brought intel- 

 ligence of a rogue elephant within four miles of the 

 tent. It was late in the afternoon, but I had not seen 

 an elephant for so long that I was determined to make 

 his acquaintance. My friend B. accompanied me, and 

 we immediately started on horseback. 



Our route lay across very extensive plains, inter- 

 spersed with low thorny bushes and wide salt lakes. 

 Innumerable wild hogs invited us to a chase. There 

 could not be a better spot for boar-spearing, as the 

 ground is level and clear for riding. There were 

 numerous herds of deer and buffaloes, but we did not 

 fire a shot, as we had determined upon an interview 

 with the rogue. We traversed about four miles of this 

 style of country, and were crossing a small plain, when 

 our guide suddenly stopped and pointed to the ele- 

 phant, who was about a quarter of a mile distant. He 

 was standing on a little glade of about fifty yards 

 across ; this was surrounded upon all sides but one 

 with dense thorny jungle, and he therefore stood in a 

 small bay of open ground. It was a difficult position 

 for an attack. The wind blew directly from us to him, 

 therefore an advance in that direction was out of the 

 question ; on the other hand, if we made a circuit so as 

 to get the wind, we should have to penetrate through 

 the thorny jungle to arrive at him, and we should then 

 have the five o'clock sun directly in our eyes. How- 

 ever, there was no alternative, and, after a little con- 

 sultation, the latter plan was resolved upon. 



Dismounting, we ordered the horsekeepers to conceal 

 the horses and themselves behind a thick bush, lest the 



