HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



To turn now to the use of your dogs, the most com- 

 mon " small game " to be hunted is undoubtedly the hare. 



The Ceylon species is Lepus nigricollls^ the black-necked 

 hare, so called from the peculiar velvet-black of the back 

 of the neck. It is a good deal smaller than the English 

 hare, and greyer in colour, a good-sized male seldom 

 weighing over five pounds. 



They exist all over Ceylon, at all elevations, in scrub, 

 grass, patches of jungle and any thick undergrowth, and 

 are of course vegetable feeders. They usually abound in 

 the sandy wastes on the sea-coast, but are very plentiful 

 almost everywhere, especially in the low country. 



In shooting hares over dogs the art of snap-shooting 

 must be cultivated, as it is seldom that an easy shot in 

 the open offers itself, the usual chance being when dodging 

 through the tea or crossing a narrow path. When your 

 dogs go into cover, however, there is a glorious uncertainty 

 as to what will be turned out. It may be a hare, a jackal, 

 red deer, chevrotain (commonly known as mouse deer), 

 or a pig ; or they may get on cat or mongoose and run 

 round and round the patch of scrub for hours, until you 

 tire of it and go home. Again, they may " bail up " 

 a porcupine, in which case you may expect some nastily 

 wounded, occasionally blinded dogs full of quills stuck 

 in their heads, noses, and chests they never seem to learn 

 the necessary caution. 



Two of the best dogs I ever owned were sisters, 

 "Vic," a pretty little beagle-terrier, well marked, and 

 " Patch," a throw-back of some kind, being a minute 

 lop-eared terrier, so small as always to be spoken of as 

 the " pup " by natives, but absolutely the staunchest little 

 animal I ever met. They were between four and five 

 years old when I first got them, and not properly entered 



28 



