CHAPTER VIII 



ELEPHANTS (Continued) 



IN my experiences related in the previous chapter I was 

 alone, but later I had some very pleasant trips in company 

 with my friend T. Y. Wright, in which we met with some 

 exciting incidents. 



On one of our trips we had actually gone to the ex- 

 travagance of paying Rs. 200 for licenses to kill two 

 elephants, as no " rogues " were available. We put in 

 some little time amongst the deer and pigs first, and then 

 moved on into elephant country, camping in the Moorish 

 village of Tambala in Tamankaduwa. This village is at 

 the eastern extremity of the fine range of " park " country, 

 mentioned, in my chapter describing the physical features of 

 the country, as having originally formed the old Minneriya 

 paddy fields, and in this park, and its attendant jungle and 

 forest clumps, a good many elephants may be found at any 

 time other than during the dry season. 



We got news one morning that an elephant had been 

 seen crossing the path between Tambala and Pangurane, 

 so set off in the afternoon with two Moormen as guides 

 and trackers. After finding the place where the elephant 

 had crossed the path we had a long and difficult track 

 through open park and scrub, eventually finding a place 

 where he had had his midday rest still warm from the 

 impression of his body. Not long after this, in some 

 rather poor forest, we came within sound of him, and 

 presently, as we were walking quietly down a narrow 



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