HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



to the road, and I said so to Garrick, getting my rifle ready 

 at the same time. 



Very shortly after this two does darted across the road, 

 and I put up my rifle, covering the line, my big ivory bead 

 showing up fine and large through the Lyman aperture. 



A moment later one of the bucks ran across, and I pulled 

 trigger the instant the bead showed against his hide, hearing 

 the unmistakable thud of impact. It and the rest, how- 

 ever, disappeared into the jungle on the right, and we 

 proceeded to the point of entry, finding a bright scarlet 

 frothy blood-track almost at once. This we followed 

 into the jungle, and heard a scramble ahead of us by the 

 time we had gone 50 yards. 



We then proceeded very cautiously, and I soon sighted 

 the buck lying down about done, but shot it again to make 

 sure. My first shot had caught it in the base of the neck, 

 and would have soon proved fatal, as the frothy blood was 

 evidently being blown out of the wind-pipe. We cut off 

 the head and carried it with us to the rest-house, marking 

 the place and at once sending back our cartmen for the 

 carcase. 



The horns were ordinary small ones, but it made a very 

 satisfactory ending to our trip, which had been a pleasant 

 and successful one. Moreover, as we had travelled up in 

 my latest acquisition, a motor car, we were enabled to take 

 a fresh haunch apiece home with us next morning, a dis- 

 tance of 62 miles. 



It may be argued that most of the foregoing instances 

 are unusual, and so they are in a way. The first and second 

 shooting instances recorded are about typical of the ordinary 

 everyday occurrence, but the rest, except the island inci- 

 dent, are cases which might occur any day in a jungle 

 country like Ceylon, where you never know what you may 



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