40 The Rifle and Hound in Ceylon. 



of grass to one end, he sticks the other end into the 

 ground close to the river's edge where the elk is lying. 

 This marks the spot. He calls his hounds together 

 and returns homeward, and afterward sends men to 

 cut the buck up and bring him home. Elk venison is 

 very good, but is at all times more like beef than En- 

 glish venison. 



The foregoing may be considered a general descrip- 

 tion of elk-hunting, although the incidents of the sport 

 necessarily vary considerably. 



The boar is our dangei'ous adversary, and he is easily 

 known by the character of the run. The hounds seldom 

 open with such a burst upon the scent as they do with 

 an elk. The run is much slower ; he runs down this- 

 ravine and up that, never going straight away, and he 

 generally comes to bay after a run of ten minutes' 

 duration. 



A boar always chooses the very thickest part of the 

 jungle as his position for a bay, and from this he makes 

 continual rushes at the hounds. 



The huntsman approaches the scene of the combat, 

 breaking his way with difficulty through the tangled 

 jungle, until within about twenty yards of the bay. 

 He now cheers the hounds on to the attack, and if 

 they are worthy of their name, they instantly rush into 

 the boar regardless of wounds. The huntsman is aware 

 of the seizure by the grunting of the boar and the tre- 

 mendous confusion in the thick jungle ; he immediately 

 rushes to the assistance of the pack, knife in hand. 



A scene of real warfare meets his view — gaping 

 wounds upon his best hounds, the boar rushing through 

 the jungle covered with dogs, and he himself becomes 

 the immediate object of his fury when observed. 



