204 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON. chai\ ix. 



country, which was dried up, and proceeded to Kon- 

 dawataweny, in the direction of Batticaloa. 1 Konda- 

 wataweny is a small village, inhabited by Moormen, 

 situated on the edge of a large lake or tank. Upon 

 arrival, I found that the neighbourhood was alive with 

 game of all kinds, and the Moormen were excellent 

 hands at elephants. There was accordingly no diffi- 

 culty in procuring good gun-bearers and trackers, 

 and at 4 P.M. of the day of our arrival, we started 

 to make a circuit of the tank in quest of the 

 big game. At about 5 P.M. we observed several 

 rogues scattered in various directions around the lake ; 

 one of these fellows, whose close acquaintance I made 

 with the telescope, I prophesied would show some 

 fight before we owned his tail. This elephant wa? 

 standing some distance in the water, feeding and bath- 

 ing. There were two elephants close to the water's edge 

 between him and us, and we determined to have a shot 

 at them en passant, and then try to bag the big fellow. 

 Although we stalked very cautiously along the 

 edge of the jungle which surrounded the lake, divided 

 from it by a strip of plain of about 200 yards 

 in width, the elephants winded us, and retreated over 

 the patina 2 at full speed towards the jungle. Endea- 

 vouring to cut them off before they could reach the 

 thick cover, we ran at our best pace along the edge 



1 The jungles have now been cleared away, and a plain of 25,000 

 acres of rice cultivation has usurped the old resort of elephants. 

 * Grassy plains. 



