158 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



its mountains, valleys and precipices ; but a portion of 

 tlvs country, called the Horton Plains, will need a fur 

 ther description. 



Some years ago, I hunted with a brother Nimrod 

 Lieut, de Montenach, of the Fifteenth regiment, in thit 

 country ; and in two months we killed forty-three elk. 



The Horton Plains are about twenty miles from 

 Newera Ellia. After a walk of sixteen miles through 

 alternate plains and forests, the steep ascent of Totapella 

 mountain is commenced by a rugged path through 

 jungle the whole way. So steep is the track that a 

 horse ascends with difficulty, and riding is of course 

 impossible. After a mile and a quarter of almost per- 

 pendicular scrambling, the summit of the pass is 

 reached, commanding a splendid view of the surround- 

 ing country, and Newera Ellia can be seen far beneath 

 in the distance. Two miles farther on, after a walk 

 through undulating forest, the Horton Plains burst sud- 

 denly upon the view as you emerge from the jungle 

 path. These plains are nearly 800 feet higher than 

 Newera Ellia, or 7000 feet above the sea. The whole 

 aspect of the country appears at once to have assumed 

 a new character ; there is a feeling of being on the top 

 of everything, and instead of a valley among surround- 

 ing hills, which is the feature of Newera Ellia and the 

 adjacent plains, a beautiful expanse of flat table-land 

 stretches before the eye, bounded by a few insignificant 

 hill-tops. There is a peculiar freedom in the Horton 

 Plains, an absence from everywhere, a wildness in the 

 thought that there is no tame animal within many miles, 

 not a village, nor hut, nor human being. It makes a 

 man feel in reality one of the " lords of the creation" 

 when he first stands upon this elevated plain, and, 



