154 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



The usual drawbacks and discomforts attendant upon 

 a new settlement having been overcome, Newera Ellia 

 forms a delightful place of residence. I soon discovered 

 that a pack of thorough-bred foxhounds were not 

 adapted to a country so enclosed by forest : some of 

 the hounds were lost, others I parted with, but they 

 are all long since dead, and their progeny, the offspring 

 of crosses with pointers, bloodhounds and half-bred 

 fox-hounds, have turned out the right stamp for elk- 

 hunting. 



It is a difficult thing to form a pack for this sport 

 which shall be perfect in all respects. Sometimes a 

 splendid hound in character may be more like a 

 butcher's dog than a hound in appearance, but the 

 pack cannot afford to part with him if he is really 

 good. 



The casualties from leopards, boars, elk and lost 

 dogs are so great that the pack is with difficulty kept 

 up by breeding. It must be remembered that the 

 place of a lost dog cannot be easily supplied in Cey- 

 lon. Newera Ellia is one of the rare climates in Cey- 

 lon which is suited to the constitution of a dog. In the 

 low and hot climates they lead a short and miserable life, 

 which is soon ended by a liver complaint ; thus, if a 

 supply for the pack cannot be kept up by breeding, 

 hounds must be procured from England at a great ex- 

 pense and risk. 



The pack now in the kennel is as near perfection as 

 can be attained for elk-hunting, comprising ten couple, 

 most of whom are nearly thorough-bred foxhounds, 

 with a few couple of immense seizers, a cross between 

 bloodhound and grayhound, and a couple of large wire- 

 haired lurchers, like the Scotch deer-hound. 



