4 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [July 2, 1888. 
An universal favorite, his arrival in September 
or October creates at the clubs, in the mess-rooms 
— everywhere, the greatest delight. " Snipe are in ; 
Brown got four couple yesterday," some one says; 
then follows a lot of eager, questioning as to the 
how and the where of Brown's luck, on which 
points it is not wholly improbable that Brown, 
with an eye to another quiet morning to himself, on 
the same ground, will give evasive, if not mislead- 
ing, replies. 
"What a thoroughbred, game-looking little rascal 
the snipe is ! The smooth round little head, the 
bead of an eye, the graceful shape and elegant mark- 
ings on the back and wings, all stamp him a little 
aristoorat among birds. Good to look at ; good to 
shoot at, and good to eat! he has all these ex- 
cellent qualities, and deserves from all sportsmen the 
highest commendation. 
He comes in to the island in small numbers 
about the middle of September, and is " well in " 
about the end of November, and is to be found up 
to the end of April. On one occasion I made a 
fine bag of twenty-two couple of snipe on the 4th 
of May, but this was exceptionally late for them to 
remain with us. 
Snipe are ubiquitous in the island ; occasionally 
some pretty shooting may be had quite close to 
Colombo : and the sea-side railway running down 
south will quickly convey the shooter to some ex- 
cellent snipe-grounds ; so that, when the thrilling 
cry " Snipe are in I " is raised, there is everywhere 
a great demand for No. 8 shot, and all sorts and 
conditions of sportsmen go for them at once. Even 
the German element among the Colombo merchants 
finds, in the pursuit of the snipe, a means of banish- 
ing the melancholy engendered of too regretful 
thoughts of the Vaterland. 
The question is often asked if Ceylon snipe are more 
or less difficult to shoot than English ones. They do 
not, as a rule, go off with the dash of the home 
bird, it is true, but that is no doubt owiug to the 
heat, and to the heavy feeding they get. But I have 
no doubt that, if a large number of shots at the 
Oeylon snipe were compared with a similar number at 
the home bird, the hits and misses would be found to 
be about equal in both cases. The walking in Ceylon 
is often very bad — far worse than anything we get 
at home. You usually have to " totter " aloug the 
thin ridges which separate the beds of the paddy- 
fields — most precarious footholds — or else to plough 
your way through heavy mud ; this, combined with the 
heat, counter-balances any advantage which may be 
obtained from the bird's easier flight. 
In the early moruing of a cloudy day, wheu the 
ground is very wet, anil the shooter has to go " splash, 
splash," through the fields after his game, snipe are 
very wild and give most difficult shots, getting up at 
thirty or thiry-five tyards every time, with a scream 
and a dash equal to anything done in that way by the 
home birds ; and a man who, without picking his 
chances, can account for five out of every twelve shots, 
must be a long way beyond the average shot to be 
fouud in the island. On the other hand, if snipe can 
be driven into good holding cover, such as rushes, or 
better still, young paddy, about a foot high and not 
too wet, and if the sun is hot, they lie well and get 
up easily, and then a good shot will bag his seven or 
eight birds for every dozen cartridges. 
Most people, who do not care to make a labour of 
sport, are content with two or three hours in the cool 
of the morning, or the last two hours befor sunset, but 
the most deadly time to bag snipe is, undoubtedly, the 
middle of the day. 
If the sun is not too hot, and one gets to a ground 
full of snipe in strong cover, the shooting is really 
glorious, and a noble hag may be compiled between 
noon and sunset. 
A very pretty and profitable way of working snipe is 
by driving them. Often owing to the rottenness of 
the ground, or the heat or other cause, walking is 
objectionable. 
The plan then is to send a lot of men and boys by 
a circuitous route to the bit of ground you want to 
drive, and make them walk in line towards you, 
Beautiful shots may be had in this way ; the birds 
having been flushed near the beaters, steidy in their 
flight before they get to the gun, although they 
come at a rattling pace, and it is very pretty to see 
them cut over in their flight overhead. By the time 
the drive is over, seven or eight birds will probably 
be lying round each gun. 
There is no difficulty about getting beaters ; unfor- 
tunately they are too common. No sooner docs the 
firing begin in the fields, than native men and boys 
will be seen pouring out of their gardens and houses 
to see the fun. They enjoy it thoroughly and, if 
allowed to act of their own sweet will, will have a 
floundering race for every bird that is dropped. 
It is most intensely annoyiDg to find oneself the 
head of a mighty procession of native villagers, and, 
owing to this crowd of chatterers, to see bird after 
bird going away out of shot. It is a very difficult 
thing to get rid of them. If you happen to be a 
big-wig of the district, such as Magistrate or Assist- 
ant Government Agent, you may, by virtue of your 
" pride of place," persuade them to leave you in peace; 
otherwise it is not an easy thing to accomplish. It is 
no use to lose your temper with them. Tne best plan 
is to enlist on your side two or three of the leading 
barbarians and by promise of a fee to get them to 
drive back the others. 
Another great nuisance of shooting in populous 
districts is the danger of hitting some unseen indivi- 
dual, perhaps gathering rushes or standing behind a 
bush. One canuot be too careful. In my experience 
I have known numerous cases of natives being hotly 
peppered with No. 8 ; and although as a rule, little 
damage is done, and a few well-timed words, accom- 
panied with a douceur, set matters all right, yet I 
have known instances where the peppered one and 
"his friends have cut up uncommonly rusty, and have 
refused to hear the voice of the charmer, and have 
given an immense amount of trouble before affairs 
could be brought to a favorable adjustment. So 
much for snipe-shooting in populous districts. The 
finest sport, however, is to be met within the wild 
parts of the island. 
Some four years ago, I was with a friend on an 
olephant-shooting trip of a week's duration. One 
day, as we were coming back to camp, we came to a 
very large grass-field— about eighty acres, I should 
think ; the ground was soft, and there were little pools 
of water all over it. 
It was full of snipe. We at once sent a man to camp 
to bring a supply of shot cartridges, and rested in the 
shade till he returned. Never before or since have I 
seen finer snipe-shooting. The birds had probably 
never been fired at, and lay well. The walking was 
delightful, the moist grass scarcely soiled our boots, 
and the birds were as thick as peas. We took a 
beat through a field, and at the end of it had bagged 
thirty couple. The snipe were wheeling round and 
round in the air, making their shrill " skeep," and 
pitching in all parts of the field. " Shall we cut it 
through again ?" I said. " No," said H . " What 
is the use ; besides, we have not got too many shot - 
cartridges." ThU was true, for, when after big game, 
it is never advisable to have a very large number of 
shot-cartridges, as they weigh so heavy. I remember 
we sent off some twenty-five couple of fine fat snipe 
to some coffee-planting friends, living about thirty 
miles from where we were, and were very pleased 
to learn afterwards that they arrived all right, and 
were much appreciated. 
Snipe are most commonly sought for on paddy 
land. The shooting in the wet stubbles about JaD . 
and Feb. is often excellent. Very good sport may 
also be had in what are known as " deuiyas," or waste 
lands, and round the edges of tanks. Mingled snipe 
and wild fowl shooting on tanks is perhaps the finest 
sport which the colony affords. 
Although ubiquitous, snipe are far more plentif ul 
in some parts of the island than in others. Tamble- 
gam, in the Eastern Province, is a celebrated ground. 
There is a well-known piace in the Central Province 
known as " Bintenne," from which very large bags 
have been obtained. From this ground the largest 
