SPOTTED DEER 



meet round the corner, or beyond a fringe of bush. They 

 may be looked upon generally as " emergency " cases, and 

 serve to show that prompt action is necessary to ensure 

 success. 



Here is an instance to show the value of dogged insist- 

 ence in tracking an animal known to be wounded. I was 

 camping at the time on the site of the old fort at Pulian- 

 kulam, on the Alut Oya-Kauduluwewa road (site of the 

 former residence of a Government Agent of Tamankaduwa 

 in the 'thirties, and station on the old Trincomalee-Kandy 

 post-track), and one evening I went out with two trackers 

 for a stroll round. Not 200 yards from camp I suddenly 

 saw a buck standing behind a bush on the edge of the jungle 

 bordering the road, about 80 yards away, gazing at us 

 intently. It was only the work of a moment to put in a 

 quick shot, but the buck dashed away into the jungle ; not 

 before we had perceived, however, that the right fore-leg 

 was broken between shoulder and knee. 



We followed and tracked until it got late and we had 

 to give up ; but the next morning I went off with my 

 trackers, and we followed up doggedly, the track being 

 pretty plain, until at last we sighted the animal lying down 

 in big forest. I fired at it, and it got up and ran on. We 

 followed again, caught sight of it once more, and I put in 

 another shot, but to my surprise it again ran on as well 

 as ever. 



It then occurred to me that I had better have a look at 

 my cartridges, when I found I had inadvertently loaded up 

 the magazine of my " Savage" with solids instead of soft- 

 nose. I rectified this, and the next shot finished off the 

 poor animal, when I found the solids had simply gone 

 through it like going through a sheet of paper, one having 

 actually entered just forward of the hind quarters and out 



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