zd4 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON. chai>. xi 



nillho grows rapidly through this, concealing the mass 

 of dead sticks beneath, and forms a tangled barrier 

 which checks both dogs and man. With tough gaiters 

 to guard the shins, we break through by main force 

 and weight, and the dogs scramble sometimes over, 

 sometimes under the surface. At this period the elk 

 are in great numbers, as they feed with great avidity 

 upon the succulent young nillho. The dogs are now 

 at a disadvantage. While they are scrambling with 

 difficulty through this mass of half-rotten sticks, the 

 elk bounds over it with ease, leaving no path behind 

 him, as he clears it by leaps, and does not exhaust 

 himself by bursting through it. He now constantly 

 escapes, and leaves the pack miles behind ; the best 

 hounds follow him, but with such a start he leads them 

 into the unknown depths of the jungles, over high 

 mountains and across deep ravines, from which the 

 lost dogs frequently never return. 



There can be no question that it is a bad country 

 for hunting at all times, as the mass of forest is so 

 disproportionate to the patinas ; but, on the other 

 hand, were the forests of smaller size there would be 

 less game. Elk-hunting is, on the whole, fine sport. 

 There are many disappointments constantly occurring, 

 but these must happen in all sports. The only im- 

 portant drawback to the pleasure of elk-hunting is the 

 constant loss of the dogs. The best are always sure 

 to go. What with deaths by boars, leopards, elk, and 



