222 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



the grandest in the world, to see a fine rogue elephant 

 knocked over in full charge. His onset appears so irre- 

 sistible, and the majesty of his form so overwhelming, 

 that I have frequently almost mistrusted the power of 

 man over such a beast ; but one shot well placed, with 

 a heavy charge of powder behind the ball, reduces him 

 in one instant to a mere heap of flesh. 



One of the most disgusting sights is a dead elephant 

 four or five days after the fatal shot. In a tropical cli- 

 mate, where decomposition proceeds with such won- 

 derful rapidity, the effect of the sun upon such a mass 

 can be readily understood. The gas generated in the 

 inside distends the carcase to an enormous size, until it 

 at length bursts and becomes in a few hours afterward 

 one living heap of maggots. Three weeks after an ele- 

 phant is killed nothing remains but his bones and a 

 sm'all heap of dried cases, from which the flies have 

 emerged when the time arrived for them to change from 

 the form of maggots. The sight of the largest of the 

 animal creation being thus reduced from life to nothing- 

 ness within so short a space of time is an instance of 

 the perishable tenure of mortality which cannot fail to 

 strike the most unthinking. The majesty, the power 

 and the sagacity of the enormous beast are scattered in 

 the myriads of flies which have fed upon him. 



It is a delightful change after a sporting trip of a few 

 weeks in the hot climates to return again to the cool 

 and even temperature of Newera Ellia. The tent is a 

 pleasant dwelling when no other can be obtained, but 

 the comfort of a good house is never so much appre- 

 ciated as on the return from the jungle. 



One great pleasure in the hunting at Newera Ellia is 

 the ease with which it is obtained. In fact, the sport 



