300 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



shot at him at a long range, and the day closed. It 

 was moonlight when we reached the " amblam" : the 

 bag for that day being five elephants and two bucks. 



Dec. 9. We had alarmed this part of the country, 

 and after spending a whole morning in wandering over 

 a large extent of ground without seeing a fresh track 

 of an elephant, we determined to move on to Nielgalla, 

 eight miles from the " amblam." We accordingly 

 packed up, and started off our coolies by the direct 

 path, while we made a long circuit by another route in 

 the hope of meeting with heavy game. 



After riding about four miles, our path lay through a 

 dense forest up the steep side of a hill. Over this was 

 a narrow road, most difficult for a horse to ascend, on 

 account of the large masses of rocks which choked the 

 path from the base to the summit. Leaving the horse- 

 keepers with the horses to scramble up as they best 

 could, we took our guns and went on in advance. We 

 had nearly reached the summit of this pass when we 

 came suddenly upon some fragments of chewed leaves 

 and branches lying in the middle of the path. The 

 saliva was still warm upon them, and the dung of an 

 elephant lay in the road in a state which proved his 

 close vicinity. There were no tracks, of course, as the 

 path was nothing but a line of piled rocks, from which 

 the forest had been lately cleared, and the elephants had 

 just been disturbed by the clattei'ing of the horses' 

 hoofs in ascending the rugged pass. 



Banda had run on in front about fifty yards before 

 us, but we had no sooner arrived on the summit of the 

 hill than we saw him returning at a flying pace toward 

 us, with an elephant chasing him in full speed. 



It was an exciting scene while it lasted : with the *r. 



