3iS THE RIFLE AND HOUND IN CEYLON, chap. xii. 



ing. This was an exciting moment, especially to 

 nerves unaccustomed to the sport. 



The whole edge of the forest was faced with a dense 

 network of creepers ; from the highest tree-tops to the 

 ground they formed a leafy screen like a green curtain, 

 which clothed the forest as ivy covers the walls of a 

 house. Behind this opaque mass the great actors in 

 the scene were at work, and the whole body would 

 evidently in a few seconds burst through this leafy 

 veil and be right upon us. 



On they came, the forest trembling with the onset. 

 The leafy curtain burst into tatters ; the jungle ropes 

 and snaky stems, tearing the branches from the tree- 

 tops, were in a few moments heaped in a tangled and 

 confused ruin. One dense mass of elephants' heads, 

 in full career, presented themselves through the shat- 

 tered barrier of creepers. 



Running towards them with a loud holloa, they 

 were suddenly checked by our unexpected apparition, 

 but the confused mass of elephants made the shooting 

 very difficult. Two elephants rushed out to cross the 

 little nook within four yards of me, and I killed both 

 by a right and left shot. Wallace immediately pushed 

 a spare rifle into my hand, just as a large elephant, 

 meaning mischief, came straight towards me, with ears 

 cocked, from the now staggered body of the herd. I 

 killed her with the front shot, both barrels having 

 gone off at once, the heavy charge of powder in the 



