i/iA THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. vii. 



are no consumers, and these beautiful beasts would 

 be shot to waste. 



In the neighbourhood of Paliar and Illepecade\ve\ 

 on the north-west coast, I have shot them till I was 

 satiated and it ceased to be sport. We had nine fine 

 deer hanging up in one day, and they were putrefying 

 faster than the few inhabitants could preserve them 

 by smoking and drying them in steaks. I could have 

 shot them in any number, had I chosen to kill simply 

 for the sake of murder ; but I cannot conceive any 

 person finding an enjoyment in slaying these splendid 

 deer to rot upon the ground. 



I was once shooting at Illepecadewe\ which is a 

 lonely, miserable spot, when I met with a very saga- 

 cious and original sportsman in a most unexpected 

 manner. I was shooting with a friend, and we had 

 separated for a few hundred paces. I presently got a 

 shot at a peafowl, and killed her with my rifle. The 

 shot was no sooner fired than I heard another shot in 

 the jungle, in the direction taken by my friend. My 

 rifle was still unloaded when a spotted doe bounded 

 out of the jungle, followed by a white pariah dog in 

 full chase. Who would have dreamt of meeting with 

 a dog at this distance from a village (about four 

 miles) ? I whistled to the dog, and to my surprise he 

 came to me, the deer having left him out of sight in a 

 few seconds. He was a knowing-looking brute, and 

 was evidently out hunting on his own account. Just 



