HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



armed with a .303 "Savage" rifle (my favourite rifle for 

 all ordinary game), during an evening's round from camp, 

 came upon a buffalo standing apparently by itself in a small 

 open space in dense jungle. We were just inside the edge 

 of the forest, and the animal was about 60 yards away. 

 Fred fired, intending to take it behind the shoulder, and 

 down it dropped, literally, in its tracks. At the shot about 

 half-a-dozen more buffaloes came tearing out of the forest 

 and long grass near the fallen one, and all bolted except one, 

 with what looked like a good but peculiar shaped head. 

 This animal snorted and pranced round the fallen one, 

 offering a chance too good to lose, so I gave it a shot 

 which broke the left shoulder. It stopped for a moment 

 and seemed somewhat surprised, but went on prancing round 

 again on three legs. I gave it two more body shots, which 

 sent it lumbering off to the jungle, where, about 150 yards 

 away, it fell, and I finished it off with a ball through the 

 brain. It turned out to be a big cow, with one long horn 

 stretching outwards almost horizontally, the point turning 

 forward a few inches, and the other horn, a short mal- 

 formation, bending slightly downwards from the horizontal. 

 When we came to look at the other animal it was dead, 

 and we found the bullet had gone through the top of the 

 shoulder, probably breaking both, and some splinters must 

 have injured some very vital part to kill it so quickly. 

 We had no time to hold a post-mortem as it was late evening, 

 and we broke camp next morning, so we merely secured 

 the heads. 



Another rather interesting experience I had, not long 

 ago, is perhaps worth telling. I was down in Tamankaduwa 

 on business connected with some land I had taken up for 

 experimental cultivation in a rather wild part of the country 

 well beloved of elephants, buffaloes, and pigs. The local 



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