116 JOURNAL, BOMtAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1892. 



Certain times of the yeairj lised d,s a fisHilg statidti by the natives of the Colony* 

 Exdepting in the seasdn, when tto Singalfese :figiiermen visit it to catch fisli for" 

 tlie poirpose of drying ftnd saltingj it is wholly Uninhabitect, liilless, indeed, it 

 fee by 8t few Chinanlen, who go the'te to Csltcll the sea-slug (called in Tamil 

 " attai") Which abounds on this part of tbe Ceylon coast. TllCse slugg — 1 do 

 iiot know theii" correct scientific naiue — are large things about 8 in. or 10 ill. ill 

 length, black and ^liniy, and of a most uninviting appearance when freshly 

 caught, but witCn boiled they shrivel up to very small dimensions, and lose a 

 great deal of their repulsive look. I iiave nether tried them, but they are 

 esteemed a great delicacy among thd Celestials. But if tile Island is, in all 

 iniportaiit respects, insignificant^ it iS) looked at froni the sportsman's point oi 

 ¥iewj a perfect paradise. Its entire length is about ten or eleven miles,- and 

 its breadth at the widest part, IVhich is at the north; about a mile; It is mostly 

 composed of loose sandj covered With scrtlb jungle and large mangrove svvamps, 

 but there are a few glades of coarSe grass here and there, and plenty of Spl'ingg 

 bi excellent Water; It simply teems with deer; or did a feW years ago* wherl 

 i was shooting there* How they got there iS Somewhat a mysteiya The 

 prevalent idea is that they Were introdtlced by some old Dutch grftndee 

 before the occupation of Ceylon by tbe English, aild there is Some colour to 

 this opiniori, from tbe fact that there is a ruined old bililding on the island, 

 Which may possibly have been a sort of shooting box iil the time of the Dutch. 

 It Was early in January when I made a solitary hunting trip tliere. I took 

 a native dhoiiey, arid sailed thrdilgh the Calpentyn Lake and past Dutch Bayj 

 and after a twenty-four hours' ruuj reached the north of the island. At this 

 Beason there were fortunately for me, a large number of Slngalese fishermen 

 there ; they had their " kottooS " oi' huts all along the shore j and they proved 

 invaluable allies in driving the deer. These men wefd neariy all Eomttrt 

 Catholics from the towns of Colombo and NegombOj and consequently had 

 V iio Buddhistic scruples about hunting or taking life | in fact, they were 

 Very keen Sportsmen, and very obliging fellows to boot. The golden plover" 

 simply sWarmed in many parts along the coaSt, and citrleW) Whimbrel, and 

 every description df Waders were to be seen in great numbers about the shallows 

 of the lagoons. While large packs of wild fowl Were floating about well out 

 of range frOm the shdre. The grey partridges also were very plentiful, and 

 in the early morning and evening could be heard calling all over the place. 

 It should be understood that the west coast of the island faces the high sea, 

 but between the east coast and the mainland of Ceylon is one of those back- 

 WatdrS so common along the north- western coast ; comparatil^ely smooth, 

 and in many places Very shallow, and it Was here that the wild fowl, curlew, 

 &G., were to be found. 



The first moi-ning (Jan. 3) I tried Stalking. The place is not very favourable 

 from it being very bushy, and having very little grazing ground in the open. 

 Any amount of fresh tracks of deer were to be found, and twice I found a small 



