HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



hounds in full cry. It was a pretty sight as the whole 

 pack, headed by Lifter, Columbine, and Gossamer, came 

 streaming round the corner ; many of them actually passed 

 the stag until, headed by Rip, the seizers sprang in. He 

 had but little fight in him though, and they soon had him 

 and it was all over. 



On another occasion I recollect seeing a stag walking 

 down stream in about i\ feet of water. 



I -was hidden by a tussock of long grass, and when just 

 opposite me he deliberately lay down in fast water until 

 only his antlers, his eyes, and his nostrils were above the 

 surface. 



I walked up to the edge of the bank some eight feet 

 above him, and not more than ten feet from his head, but 

 although he saw me he did not move. Hounds came 

 down on his line in full cry, and flashed right past him on 

 the bank, and two hounds actually in the stream itself. 



Seizers were then taken close up, but it was not until 

 I jumped from the bank right on top of him, knife in 

 hand, that he moved. 



Then the leap he made was magnificent. He rose 

 from the gravelly bed of the stream in a flash, and in one 

 movement was standing on the bank fully eight feet above 

 where he had lain. He gave us a good run after that, and 

 a pretty bay, fighting gamely to T the last. 



I have known a stag stand in a thicket very little more 

 than his own length, and allow a whole pack of hounds and 

 three or four men and dog boys to pass within three feet of 

 him, without moving. 



For the information of those who are not familiar with 

 the terms "seizer" and "long-dog," I would mention that 

 they are generally Kangaroo hounds from Australia, or 

 used to be in the good old days when coursing the stag 



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