chap. xi. A LONG RUN WITH A BUCK. 255 



out at the front. He was perfectly right ; the old dog 

 stood on the lawn before the hotel, watching the house 

 with great eagerness. In the meantime the elk was 

 galloping from room to room in the hotel, chased by a 

 crowd of people, until she at length took refuge in a 

 lady's bedroom, from which there was no exit, as the 

 window was closed. The crash of glass may be im- 

 agined as an animal as large as a pony leaped through 

 it ; but old Smut was ready for her, and after a chase 

 of a few yards he pulled her down. This is the only 

 instance that I have ever known of an elk entering a 

 building, although it is a common occurrence with 

 hunted deer in England. 



An elk found on the top of Pedro talla Galla, which 

 rises from the plain of Newera Ellia, will generally run 

 straight down the mountain, and, unless headed, he will 

 frequently come to bay in the river close to the hotel, 

 which is situated at the foot of the mountain. This, 

 however, is not a rule without an exception, as the elk 

 on some occasions takes a totally different direction, 

 and gives a hard day's work. 



It was on July 27, 1852, that I had a run of this 

 kind. It was six A.M. when my youngest brother and 

 I started from the foot of Pedro to ascend the moun- 

 tain. The path is three miles long, through jungle the 

 whole way to the summit. There were fresh tracks of 

 elk near the top of the mountain ; the dew lay heavily 

 upon the leaves, and the scent was evidently strong, as 



