HUNTING & SHOOTING IN CEYLON 



had a long and fruitless tramp round together, eventually 

 sighted a young buck a longish distance off in an open 

 " park," which we determined to have a shot at rather than 

 return to camp empty-handed. Tom tried a shot over the 

 top of an ant-hill with a double-barrelled .577 but missed, 

 and the deer never moved. Again he fired with the same 

 result, the deer taking no notice whatever, but gazing fixedly 

 in our direction. I then fired off-hand with a .303 and 

 also missed still no movement so I quickly reloaded, 

 knelt, taking careful aim, and dropped it dead. The dis- 

 tance was about 145 yards according to our pacing, and the 

 deer looked a very small object indeed at that range. 



I do not think there is any place in Ceylon where a 

 really big bag of deer could be made by fair stalking, unless 

 a man went in for slaughtering does, which no sportsman 

 is likely to do. You will be very successful in your shoot- 

 ing if you average one buck per day, for though you may 

 see plenty, you do not by any means manage to get shots at 

 them all. 



If you want fresh meat and can't get a buck, do not 

 hesitate to shoot a doe, as their flesh is noticeably better and 

 more tender than that of the buck ; and there are plenty of 

 them. Skins make very pretty trophies, if cured and 

 mounted as mats, whilst a good buck's head properly set up 

 looks exceedingly well. The biggest heads are to be found, 

 I believe, in the Uva, or Southern, Province, those of the 

 north country, or north-central, seldom reaching any record 

 lengths. Now and again, if you are lucky, you may chance 

 on a good one, but I have more than once failed to see a 

 single good head during an extensive trip. 



Talking of lucky chances, the following incident is well 

 worth putting on record. My friend J. G. Napier, of 

 Madulkele, whilst enjoying a trip in the Eastern Province, 



