chap. vur. BEAT HOUNDS FOR ELK-HUNTING. 171 



and I arrived in Ceylon with a pack of fine foxhounds 

 and a favourite greyhound of wonderful speed and 

 strength, ' Bran,' who, though full of years, is still 

 alive. 



The usual drawbacks and discomforts attendant 

 upon a new settlement having been overcome, Newera 

 Ellia forms a delightful place of residence. I soon 

 discovered that a pack of thoroughbred foxhounds 

 were not adapted to a country so enclosed by forest ; 

 some of the hounds were lost, others I parted with, 

 but they are all long since dead, and their progeny, 

 the offspring of crosses with pointers, bloodhounds and 

 half-bred foxhounds, have turned out the right stamp 

 for elk-hunting. 



It is a difficult thing to form a pack for this sport 

 which shall be perfect in all respects. Sometimes a 

 splendid hound in character may be more like a 

 butcher's dog than a hound in appearance, but the 

 pack cannot afford to part with him if he is really 

 good 



The casualties from leopards, boars, elk and lost 

 dogs are so great that the pack is with difficulty kept 

 up by breeding. It must be remembered that the 

 place of a lost dog cannot be easily supplied in Cey- 

 lon. Newera Ellia is one of the rare climates in Cey- 

 lon which is suited to the constitution of a dog. In the 

 low and hot climates they lead a short and miserable 

 life, which is soon ended by a liver complaint ; thus, 



