8 4 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON. CHAP. v. 



at their best pace. They were two of the Topari 

 villagers, and had been perfectly aghast at the idea of 

 one person, with only a single-barrelled rifle, attack- 

 ing a tank rogue in the open plain. The sequel had 

 turned their fear into astonishment. They now had 

 the laugh at me, however, as they swam fearlessly up 

 to the dead elephant to cut off his tail, which I would 

 not have done for any reward, for fear of crocodiles, 

 which abound in the tank. The ball had struck the 

 white mark exactly in the centre, which pleased these 

 natives exceedingly, and they returned in safety with 

 the tail. 



I have frequently tried these long shots since, but 

 I never succeeded again except once, and that was 

 not satisfactory, as the elephant did not die upon 

 the spot, but was found by the natives on the follow- 

 ing day. 



On my return to the village I took a shot-gun and 

 strolled along the banks of the lake. The snipe were 

 innumerable, and I killed them till my head ached with 

 the constant recoil of the gun in addition to the heat. 

 1 also killed several couple of ducks and teal in addi- 

 tion to twenty-eight couple of snipe. This was the 

 Paradise for sport at the time of which I write. It 

 had never been disturbed : but it has since shared the 

 fate of many other places. 



The open forest in the vicinity of the lake abounded 

 with deer. Grassy glades beneath the shady trees 



