IN THE JUNGLE 7 



I need hardly say my experience of jungle at this 

 time was by no means confined to my surroundings. 

 All the coffee ^ estates have blocks of virgin forest 

 of greater or less extent belonging to them, and still 

 larger ones are reserved by the Crown ; and Kandy 

 lies in the centre, if not of all the coffee districts, at 

 any rate of the older ones. All these jungles have a 

 population of animals, most of which have been in- 

 geniously misnamed by the colonists. I have already 

 referred to the "red deer." In India it is called 

 "jungle sheep," which is equally absurd. "Jungle 

 goat " would be more expressive, at any rate, though 

 it is a true deer. The commonest large animal in the 

 coffee districts is the sambar deer. This has been 

 more madly still nicknamed the " elk," while the 

 common leopard is known as the " cheetah." The 

 elephant was already almost unknown in my day in 

 the older coffee districts. 



It was in a coffee district not very far from Kandy 

 that I was a witness of a singular phenomenon, which 

 I have once seen referred to in an English magazine. 

 The night was still and calm, and my host and I were 

 sitting in the verandah. On the opposite slope was a 

 small extent of jungle. I was just thinking about 

 bed, when the valley began to echo with the sound 

 of an axe. 



" Hather late for wood-cutting, isn't it ? " I said. 



" Oh, that's not wood-cutting," was the answer — 

 "that's the pezazi'' (devil). 



I stared at my friend, but his face was absolutely 

 serious. Meanwhile, the axe-strokes fell louder and 

 louder. Presently, with a crash, the tree — apparently 

 a good-sized one — fell. 



1 In my day tea was a novelty. 



