308 THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. xtt. 



want of food to travel far. They had only half a 

 meal the day before, and nothing at all the day before 

 that. 



We had halted in a grassy glade surrounded by 

 thick jungle. There were numerous fresh tracks of 

 deer and elk, but the animals themselves would not 

 show. 



As evening approached, we collected a quantity of 

 dead timber and lighted a good fire, before which we 

 piled the rifles, three and three, about ten feet apart. 

 Across these we laid a pole, and then piled branches 

 from the ground to the pole in a horizontal position. 

 This made a shed to protect us from the dew, and, 

 with our saddles for pillows, we all lay down together 

 and slept soundly till morning. 



Nov. 28. — We woke hungry, and accordingly 

 tightened our belts by two or three holes. V. Baker 

 had to be in Kandy by the evening of the 30th, and 

 he was now determined to push on. His pony had 

 thrown all his shoes, and had eaten nothing but grass 

 for many days. 



I knew our position well, as I had been lost near 

 this spot about two years ago. We were fifty-three 

 miles from Badulla. Nevertheless, V. B. started off, 

 and arrived in Badulla that evening. On the same 

 pony he pushed on to Newera Ellia, thirty-six miles, 

 the next day ; and then taking a fresh horse, he rode 



