204 THE IMAGE OF WAR 



of spending Christmas Day. I still remember the 

 bill of fare. " All killed on the estate/' our host 

 assured us : — 



Hare Soup. 



Fish (name unknown, from the river). 



Porcupine Chops. Wild-Boar Ham. 



" Red-Deer " Venison. Snipe. 



Parrot Curry. 



Something like a breakfast, we said, and I think my 

 readers will agree. 



My next innovation was to suggest riding to the 

 hounds. In fact, I had been doing so quietly for 

 some time on by-days when nobody was out. My 

 suggestion met with violent opposition, but I sug- 

 gested that they should come out and see. The 

 experiment took place in the lovely ride known as 

 Lady Horton's Walk, where I . knew the plentiful 

 paths of easy gradient would enable the most timid 

 to see the fun. It is true we could see but little of 

 hounds, they being mostly in the thick jungle, but 

 when they finally ran into their hare everybody was 

 delighted ; and it was decided that we should ride, 

 except on Sundays, on which day only some of the 

 members who had no horses could get away. 



A few miles from Kandy lie the celebrated Botanical 

 Gardens of Peradeniya. They consist largely of 

 beautifully- kept park land, and are almost entirely 

 surrounded by a bend of the Mahawelliganga, which 

 here forms a complete S — the estate of Gangarua, of 

 which I have before spoken, being in the upper half 

 .and the Botanical Gardens in the lower. I had long 

 cast an eye on these rolling grass-lands, but had not 

 quite the audacity to take hounds there uninvited. 

 It so happened that at this time a new superintendent 



