THE BUFFALO 



men with me were Moormen from the villages along the 

 Mahaweliganga, on the bank of which we were camping, 

 and they requested me to kill a lusty young wild bull 

 buffalo which had taken possession of one of their herds 

 in a swamp, and would not permit the men to approach 

 their own animals. I was keen enough, and the revenue 

 officer, my friend the Mudaliyar (Mr. G. Jayewardene), 

 who was with me at the time, telling me he could, under 

 the circumstances, authorise me to shoot it, off we set 

 down river in a canoe, myself, my friend H. S. Cameron, 

 who had accompanied me on this trip, the Mudaliyar, and 

 some of the Moormen. On the way down the river we 

 had the luck to find the water so low that I was able to 

 show Cameron, who had never been in the low country 

 before, a perfect view of that extraordinary relic of antiquity 

 known as the " Elephant's Head." This is such a curiosity 

 that I have no doubt my readers will pardon the digression 

 if I give a short account of it. On the west bank of the 

 river, at a point nearly opposite Katuwamwila village (which 

 is on the east bank), are some boulders, some of them in 

 the water, others just on the edge of it. Rocks are scarce 

 about here, by the way. One of these boulders just at the 

 water's edge has been admirably carved into an excellent 

 representation of a life-sized elephant's head and shoulders, 

 trunk curved round towards its side, tusks and all com- 

 plete. The river is seldom so low as to uncover more than 

 half of it, but this time it was completely uncovered down 

 to the " pedestal " so as to expose the fore-feet, which are, 

 unfortunately, badly carved, representing the elephant as 

 getting up from the kneeling position. There are signs 

 on the rocks above it of there having been possibly a small 

 building of some sort near it, but not a trace of inscription, 

 and absolutely nothing is known of the meaning or origin 



145 K 



