ELK HUNTING 



disaster of the same nature, which should be mentioned 

 in this chapter. Some good friends of mine had presented 

 me with four couple of hounds from the Madras pack to 

 replace those I had lost in January. They were Petrel, 

 Pilot, Fiery, Furious, Ringwood, Steadfast, and two 

 others. 



On April I2th I drew with a strong pack the north 

 side of the Aldie Patnas, through dense nilloo forest. It 

 was a perfect hunting morning, and not a breath of air 

 stirred the highest tree tops. The earliest of all sounds 

 in these upland forests the hoots of Wanderoo monkeys 

 resounded from the precipitous rocks of the Aldie Patna 

 range across to the slopes of the local "Abomination of 

 Desolation" Hill and the Kondegalla range above Galle- 

 gamma. We were full of anticipation of a most enjoyable 

 morning's sport as hounds dashed away to find. 



They were working round me in a narrow strip of 

 patna, and suddenly opened on a line. A glance under 

 a rhododendron tree showed me the tracks of a fine stag, 

 where he had been standing that very morning. It was 

 a good find, as in the stillness of that early morning the 

 whole valley re-echoed with the deep notes of eight couple 

 of good trusty foxhounds. 



The pack went away at a great pace, and at the head 

 of the patna valley a heavy beast could be distinctly heard 

 cracking through the undergrowth. An old elephant path 

 soon took us out on to the Horton Plains road, and 

 after a run of about twenty minutes we heard a glorious 

 " bay " on our right. We had some tangled bamboo jungle 

 to get through and a deep ravine to cross, and it was simply 

 fighting our way through every inch of it. Bamboo trailers 

 clung round our necks and our bodies and tripped us up 

 at every step. To attempt to cut a path was absolutely 



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