238 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



to him to the last, in despite of his disabled state. The 

 old dog, perfectly exhausted, crawled out of the jungle : 

 he had received several additional wounds, including a 

 severe gash in his throat. He fell from exhaustion, and 

 we made a litter with two poles and a horsecloth to 

 carry him home. Bran, Merriman and Ploughboy 

 were all severely wounded. We were thoroughly 

 beaten. It was the first time that we had ever been 

 beaten off, and I trust it may be the last. We returned 

 home with our vanquished and bleeding pack Smut 

 borne in his litter by four men and we arrived at the 

 kennel a melancholy procession. The pack was dis- 

 abled for weeks, as the two leading hounds, Merriman 

 and Ploughboy, were severely injured. 



Poor old Smut lingered for a few days and died. 

 Thus closed his glorious career of sport, and he left a 

 fame behind him which will never be forgotten. His 

 son, who is now twelve months old, is the facsimile of 

 his sire, and often recalls the recollection of the old dog. 

 I hope he may turn out as good.* 



Misfortunes never come alone. A few weeks after 

 Smut's death, Lizzie, an excellent bitch, was killed by 

 a leopard, who wounded Merriman in the throat, but 

 he being a powerful dog beat him off and escaped. 

 Merriman had not long recovered from his wound when 

 he came to a lamentable and most diabolical end. 



On the 24th of December, 1852, we found a buck in 

 the jungles by the Badulla road. The dead nillho so 

 retarded the pack that the elk got a long start of the 

 dogs, and stealing" down a stream he broke cover, 

 crossed the Badulla road, ascended the opposite hills, 

 and took to the jungle before a single hound appeared 



* Killed four month afterward by a buck elk. 



