HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



big game shooting trips, but never take down more than 

 100 or 200 cartridges for that purpose, not devoting any 

 special time to it. 



I find from my diary that I visited Minneriya for the 

 first time in February 1891, on my way to shoot an 

 elephant. There were not many birds there, for I find, 

 the first time I went out into the tank, I only fired 

 23 shots and secured 13 snipe, and my diary notes that 

 they were very wild. A few days later, at Topawewa, 

 I picked up 8 couple one evening and 5^ couple another 

 evening, again finding them very wild, rising at 40 yards 

 or over. 



Not long ago, hpwever, being at Topawewa, birds 

 were fairly plentiful, and my cousin Roy Storey, who 

 had accompanied me, going round part of the north end 

 of the tank one morning, alone, secured 28 J couple. 

 In the afternoon I joined him and we both went right 

 round the tank south-about (10 solid miles, as I live, 

 by pedometer), but did not find many birds, my cousin 

 bagging n^ couple and I 12^ couple, making a total 

 of 52^ couple for the day. 



An hour or two after snipe used to be a pleasant 

 relaxation during a big game trip, but, as I said before, 

 I never took cartridges enough to make a business of it, 

 but kept that part of the sport for an off day. 



I find an entry in my diary, of an evening's stroll along 

 the water side of the great Diwulani swamp in Taman- 

 kaduwa, following a hard day after elephants, resulting in 

 a bag of 10 couple of snipe and a few other water-birds. 



Another time I find recorded 6^ couple secured one 

 evening in the tank at Vavoniya, and 1 1 couple next 

 morning in tank and paddy fields. 



Haburane gives me a bag of 14 J couple one afternoon 



12 



