Chap. V.] 



THE ELEPHANT. 



169 



into the town to drink at the wells. The soil is pro- 

 lific in the extreme ; rice, cotton, and dry grain are 

 cultivated largely in the valley. Every cottage is sur- 

 rounded by gardens of coco-nuts, arecas, jak-fruit and 

 coffee ; the slopes, under tillage, are covered with 

 luxuriant vegetation, and, as far as the eye can reach on 

 every side, there are dense forests intersected by streams, 

 in the shade of which the deer and the elephant abound. 



In 1847 arrangements were made for one of the great 

 elephant hunts for the supply of the Civil Engineer's 

 Department, and the spot fixed on by Mr. Morris, 

 the Government officer who conducted the corral, was 

 on the banks of the Kimbul river, about fifteen miles 

 from Kornegalle. The country over which we rode to 

 the scene of the approaching capture showed traces of 

 the recent drought, the fields lay to a great extent un- 

 tilled, owing to the want of water, and the tanks, almost 

 reduced to dryness, were covered with the leaves of the 

 rose-coloured lotus, 



Our cavalcade was as oriental as the scenery through 

 which it moved ; the Governor and the officers of his 

 staff and household formed a long cortege, escorted by 

 the native attendants, horse-keepers, and foot-runners. 

 The ladies were borne in palankins, and the younger 

 individuals of the party carried in chairs raised on 

 poles, and covered with cool green awnings made of 

 the fresh leaves of the talipat palm. 



After traversing the cultivated lands, the path led 

 across open glades of park-like verdure and beauty, and 

 at last entered the great forest under the shade of 

 ancient trees wreathed to their crowns with climbing 

 plants and festooned by natural garlands of convolvulus 

 and orchids. Here silence reigned, disturbed only by 



