HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



brought back 14 snipe! This was effected by bringing 

 off double kills on two occasions, with a kill for each 

 of the other cartridges. " Barney " was a phenomenal 

 shot, however, and I believe could generally count on 

 his 90 per cent, of birds. He was also a wonderful 

 " trick " shot, for I have seen him, time after time, smash 

 a bottle, thrown into the air, with a bullet out of an 

 ordinary 12-bore. 



Mr. J. J. Robinson, the veteran Passara planter and 

 sportsman, in company with two other veterans, Mr. W. 

 Stewart Taylor and Mr. R. P. Macfarlane, records a fine 

 bag at Butale in February 1893. They arrived on the 

 ground in the evening of 2nd February, and had about 

 an hour's shooting close round camp, after a long, hot 

 ride, bagging 10 couple of snipe. The next day, not 

 shooting systematically together but separate most of the 

 time, they secured a fine bag, though they made a very long 

 stop for breakfast owing to the great heat, and Mr. Taylor 

 did not shoot after 2.30 P.M. Mr. Robinson's score was 

 55 couple; Mr. Stewart Taylor got 75 couple, and Mr. 

 Macfarlane got 35 couple, a grand total of 165 couple 

 that day. The next morning only Mr. Robinson and 

 Mr. Taylor went out and found the birds very wild, but 

 they did fairly well, as the record for the short evening 

 shoot of first day, second full day, and half third day pans 

 out a grand total of 275 couple snipe and some 20 odd 

 couple of pigeons, plover, and a few teal, a very notable 

 performance. 



Mr. Robinson tells me that this was the last really 

 big snipe year, and that, since that time, the number of 

 birds arriving every year has become less and less, as 

 far as the south country is concerned. Large out-of- 

 the-way tracts, never shot over, but which used to teem 



4 



