6 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. i. 



verdure clinging to precipices a thousand feet above 

 him. His eye stretches along the grassy plains, 

 taking at one full glance a survey of woods, and rocks, 

 and streams ; and imperceptibly his mind wanders to 

 thoughts of home, and in one moment scenes long left 

 behind are conjured up by memory, and incidents are 

 recalled which banish for a time the scene before 

 him. Lost for a moment in the enchanting power of 

 solitude, where fancy and reality combine in their 

 most bewitching forms, he is suddenly roused by a 

 distant sound made doubly loud by the surrounding 

 silence — the shrill trumpet of an elephant. He wakes 

 from his reverie ; the reality of the present scene is at 

 once manifested. He stands within a wilderness where 

 the monster of the forest holds dominion ; he knows 

 not what a day, not even what a moment, may bring 

 forth ; he trusts in a protecting Power, and in the 

 heavy rifle, and he is shortly upon the track of the 

 king of beasts. 



The king of beasts is generally acknowledged to 

 be the ' lion ; ' but no one who has seen a wild elephant 

 can doubt for a moment that the title belongs to him 

 in his own right. Lord of all created animals in 

 might and sagacity, the elephant roams through his 

 native forests. He browses upon the lofty branches, 

 upturns young trees from sheer malice, and from plain 

 to forest he stalks majestically at break of day, 

 1 monarch of all he surveys.' 



