240 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



of a native ; but the sound was not repeated, and I 

 thought it might proceed from the villagers driving 

 their buffaloes. I passed on my arduous path, little 

 thinking of the tragic fate which at that moment at- 

 tended poor Merriman. 



The next day all the dogs found their way home to 

 the kennel with the exception of Merriman. I -was 

 rather anxious at his absence, as he knew the whole 

 country so thoroughly that he should have been one of 

 the first dogs to return. I was convinced that the buck 

 had been at bay in the large river, as I had seen his 

 tracks in several places on the banks with dog tracks in 

 company ; this, added to the fact of the two stray dogs 

 bbing found in the vicinity, convinced me that they had 

 brought the elk to bay in the river, in which I imagined 

 he had beaten the dogs off. Two or three days passed 

 away without Merriman's return, and, knowing him to 

 be the leading hound of the pack, I made up my mind 

 that he had been washed down a waterfall and killed. 



About a week after this had happened a native came 

 up from the low country with the intelligence that the 

 dogs had brought the buck to bay in the river close to 

 the village of Perewelle, and that the natives had killed 

 the elk and driven the dogs away. The remaining por- 

 tion of this man's story filled me with rage and horror. 

 Merriman would not leave the body of the elk : the 

 natives thought that the dog might be discovered in 

 their village, which would lead to the detection of the 

 theft of the elk ; they, therefore, tied this beautiful 

 hound to a tree, knocked his brains out -with a hatchet, 

 and threw his body into the river. This dog was a 

 favorite with every one who knew the pack. The 

 very instant that I heard the intelligence I took a good 



