l*jb The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



No pen, no tong\ie can describe the magnificence of 

 the scene ; the tremendous roaring of the herd, min- 

 gled with the shrill screams of other elephants ; the 

 bursting stems of the broken trees ; the rushing sound 

 of the leafy branches as though a tempest were howl- 

 ing through them, all this concentrating with great 

 rapidity upon the very spot upon which we were stand- 

 ing. t This was an exciting moment, especially to 

 nerves unaccustomed to the sport. 



The whole edge of the forest was faced with a dense 

 network of creej^ers ; from the highest tree-tops to the 

 ground they formed a leafy screen like a green curtain, 

 which clothed the forest as ivy covers the walls of a 

 house. Behind this opaque mass the great actors in the 

 scene were at work, and the whole body would evi- 

 dently in a few seconds burst through this leafy veil 

 and be right upon us. 



On they came, the forest trembling with the onset ; 

 the leafy curtain burst into tatters ; the jungle ropes and 

 snaky steins, tearing the branches from the 'tree-tops, 

 were ih a few moments heaped in a tangled and con- 

 fused ruin. One dense mass of elephants' heads, in 

 full career, presented themselves through the shattered 

 barrier of creepers. 



Running toward them with a loud holloa, they were 

 suddenly checked by our unexpected apparition, but 

 the confused mass of elephants made the shooting very 

 difficult. Two elephants rushed out to cross the little 

 nook within four yards of me, and I killed both by a 

 right and left shot. Wallace immediately pushed a 

 spare rifle into my hand, just as a large elephant, mean- 

 ing mischief, came straight toward me, with ears 

 cocked, from the now staggered body of the herd. I 



