PREFACE 



My task has been greatly simplified by the fact that I 

 have kept a diary, in detail, of my shooting experiences ever 

 since I first took gun in hand in Ceylon, recording every- 

 thing shot from a humble pigeon to an elephant, with a 

 short account of each and every occurrence. 



Thus my book is not an effort of memory, and contains 

 nothing but absolute facts as far as experiences go, both of 

 my own and of my valued contributors. 



Not being in any way a scientist, and my knowledge of 

 the scientific details of natural history being of the slightest, 

 I have only touched very lightly on that subject, confining 

 myself to short descriptions of the game and its habits 

 which must of necessity accompany a book of this class. 



In my descriptions, however, preferring to be accurate, 

 and not caring to trust entirely to my own observations, I 

 have freely drawn on such standard authorities as Sir Emer- 

 sonTennent, Messrs. Lydekker,Blanford,and Captain Legge. 



My readers will not find much in the way of hair- 

 breadth escapes, or even very exciting incidents ; for I 

 have found in my own experience that such things seldom 

 really occur even to a big game hunter. 



I would also warn my readers that trophies, in the true 

 sense of the word, are very, very scarce in Ceylon, thanks 

 to the lax manner in which our Game Laws are enforced ; 

 and for the same reason game is also very scarce, so that 

 a big bag is an impossibility in Ceylon as far as big game 

 is concerned. 



With a view to supplement my own experiences, where 

 wanting in some branches of sport, and also to tone down 

 somewhat the inevitable egoism of a book of this sort, I 

 invited some of the best-known sportsmen in Ceylon to 

 write here and there an article or a chapter ; and I now 

 tender my most grateful thanks to that king of elk hunters, 



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