CHAP. xii. A JUNGLE TRIP. 295 



from Minneria to the north of the Veddah country, we 

 had now diverged from that route to visit this par- 

 ticular spot, which I had never before shot over. We 

 passed on through beautiful open country interspersed 

 with clumps of jungle, but without one large tree that 

 would shade the tent. 



A single-roofed tent exposed to the sun is perfectly 

 unbearable, and we continued to push on in the 'hope 

 of finding a tree of sufficient size to afford shelter. 



Some miles were passed ; fresh tracks of elephants 

 and all kinds of game were very numerous, and the 

 country was perfection for shooting. 



At length the open plains became more contracted, 

 and the patches of jungle larger and more frequent. 

 By degrees the open ground ceased altogether, and 

 we found ourselves in a narrow path of deep mud 

 passing through impenetrable thorny jungle. Never- 

 theless our guide insisted upon pushing on to a place 

 which he compared to that which we had unfortunately 

 left behind us. Instead of going two miles, as we had 

 originally intended, we had already ridden sixteen at 

 the least, and still the headman persisted in pushing 

 on. No coolies were up ; the tents and baggage were 

 far behind ; we had nothing to eat ; we had left the 

 fine open country, which was full of game, miles be- 

 hind us, and we were in a close jungle country, where 

 a rifle was not worth a bodkin. It was too annoying. 

 I voted for turning back to the lovely hunting-ground 



