432 WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WAYS CHAP. 



dog was hardly fourteen months old. His height at the shoulders 

 was 28^ inches, and he was exceedingly heavy ; the coat was 

 yellow and smooth, as he showed more mastiff, having the regular 

 mastiff head and black muzzle. I have only seen one dog who was 

 his equal in reckless courage ; that dog was also killed, as all dogs 

 will be very speedily, unless they combine a large share of common- 

 sense with valour. 



Bertram's death must close my description of sambur deer. 

 This is also extracted verbatim from my original diary : 



" 1853. March 18. Stag found on the Matturatta Plains at 

 7 A.M. The dogs took the scent off the patina, and ran the elk 

 down to ' Rest and be thankful ' bottom. Turning sharp up the 

 mountains to the left, they went to the devil. After looking for 

 the lost dogs in many directions without success, I returned to the 

 Matturatta Plains. Crossing the river, I entered the beautiful 

 open jungle on the opposite side, and strolled on in the hope of 

 hearing something of them ; Bertram, Bran, and Lucifer were 

 with me. 



"It was about 1 P.M., and we had gone several miles, when I 

 thought I heard the deep voice of a dog at some great distance. 

 We stopped and listened. For some time we could hear nothing, 

 and thought it must have been only fancy; perhaps the wind, 

 grinding one bough against another, which is so frequently 

 deceptive. 



" Again we heard it, and there could be no doubt that it was a 

 dog ; I was almost certain that I distinguished another voice ; 

 they were at a great distance, far away upon our right. 



" After running for about half a mile, I heard them distinctly, 

 but I could not make out the exact direction, as the elk was still 

 on foot, and the position of the bay was continually changing, 

 always increasing the distance. 



"At length I came to a sudden standstill, as an abrupt precipice 

 of about 500 feet fell sheer down before me, forming a terminus to 

 the wooded country of this portion of Ceylon, and affording a view 

 of some 50 miles' distance of undulating plains, several thousand 

 feet below. 



" The precipice formed a horseshoe, like an amphitheatre of 2 

 or 3 miles in width ; at the base was an undulating patina divided 

 by strips of jungle, which ran like ribbons from the main forest on 

 the mountain top, and gradually terminated in stupendous ravines ; 

 these led down from the base of the amphitheatre, and yawned in 

 wide gaps above the lower country. 



" In one of these narrow strips of jungle, at the foot of the 



