Dec. 1, 1902,] THE TEOPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. 
387 
BEAR SHOOTING IN CEYLON. 
Though not frequently met with, bears are by 
far the comomonest of the " dangerous" animals 
of Ceylon. It is owing chiefly to their nocturnal 
habits, and the fact that they frequent the driest, 
rockiest and most difficult country, that sports- 
men comparatively seldom get a shot at them ; 
whilst natives hold the very name " walaha " in 
such dread that even the reward offered by Gov- 
ernment for their destruction does not often tempt 
them to molest the savage brutes. 
For a certain friend of mine, however, they held 
a special fascination. G made bear shooting a 
regular pursuit, and though most reticent as to his 
fields of operation, used to whet my ready appe- 
tite with such alluring descriptions of various 
trips he had made, that I arrived at a pitch of 
keeness which seemed to touch him in a soft spot, 
and one day he promised to show me a famous 
locality for bears if I would accompany him and 
vow to keep the place dark. A second invitation 
was unnecessary— I fairly leapt at the idea. We 
talked it over far into the niglit, and before the 
sound of G.'s ricksha wheels had ceased to grate 
on the drive, I was making a list of my require- 
ments, and consulting a map of the Uva Province, 
wherein lay our chosen district. The next day 
was spent in getting togethev a few necessaries, 
and on the following morning we started early, 
taking one attendant each and my cook Peter, 
who was invaluable whether at home or in camp, 
his only drawback being a marked upward tend- 
ency of the elbow, which periodically got him 
into trouble. 
We shipped on a little British India coasting 
steamer, which ran round the island once a week, 
and were landed at Hambantotte late in the 
evening. Here we stayed the night, and early 
next morning two bullock carts were chartered, one 
for us and one for provisions, luggage, &c., and 
Peter was instructed to procure some fresh food 
in the shape of fowls and rice. The unwonted 
ease of his existence was too much for him, how- 
ever, and he had been putting in all his spare 
moments getting hilariously drunk. Consequently 
when we were ready to start, Peter was conspi- 
cuous by his absence. After much searching we 
found him, chasing the fowls he had bought up and 
down a street, and stuffing them back one by one 
into the crate from which they had escaped. No 
sooner had he got them all back than he (at sight of 
us) dropped the bag of rice and spilt half its contents. 
During the flustered operation of gathering it up 
more fowls escaped, and, with a ready eye to the 
main chance, helped to pick up the rice. There 
was no time to chide the erring Peter, and event- 
ually, amidst the creaking of cumbersome carts, 
the shouts and strange urgings of their drivers, 
and the screams of turbulent poultry, we made a 
start with as much dignity as our surroundings 
would allow. 
We followed the road through the salt lakes, 
crofsed the Mahagam river, and came to the banks 
of the Manik Ganga (.Jewel River), the sandy bed 
of which is composed almost entirely of quartz, 
sapphires, and rubies. Whilst quite valueless, the 
effect is most Aladdin-like, the water magnifying 
the tiny particles into sparkling gems of enormous 
size. Following the river for some distance, we 
forded across, and, after lighting our way through 
creeper-covered tracks for another two hours, 
camped in about the worst bit of country I had 
ever seeui It was simply a tangle of dry jungle, 
interspersed with small ravines, choked with 
boulders, and low, rocky hills, seared and jagged 
on all sides by fissures and gaping cracks, lliere 
was just time to run up a hut of jungle sticks and 
"talipot" mats before the sun set, and, after a 
dip in an adjacent pool, a good square meal, and 
a cheroot, we turned in and dreamt exaggerated 
dreams of what sport the morrow would bring. 
Two hours before sunrise we were sipping tea 
and munching a biscuit, and G then led the way 
to a corner of his happy hunting ground, where it 
was likely that we should get a shot at some bear 
returning to his cave amongst the rocks above. 
Sending my boy Gregoris to a point of vantage, 
with instructions to whistle softly should he see 
anything, we took up our positions one on each side 
of a junction of two ravines, and waited. Fully 
half an hour passed and there was no sign from 
Gregoris, but suddenly I was startled by a shot from 
G, followed by the most human-like wails ; and 
before I knew what had happened, a bear rushed 
into sight and was fi;one again without giving me a 
chance to draw a bead on him. G came tumbling 
down in his tracks, and we followed headlong in the 
direction the M-ounded animal had taken. We could 
just discern occasional spots of blood on the hard 
ground, and pressing on we came to a standstill at 
a small-mouthed cave in front of which were un- 
mistakable signs that a family of bears lived within. 
It was quite light, though the sun had not yet risen, 
and again we hid among the broken rocks and 
waited in positions commanding the mouth of the 
cave. Scarcely had I recovered breath before I saw 
the ungainly, semi-comical figure of a young bear 
ambling along, stopping now and again to pounce 
upon some insect and, unconscious of danger, com- 
ing straight towards us. My excitement was intense, 
and I watched his movements with deep interest, 
wondering whether G could also see him, till 
suddenly he stopped and, protruding his loose, 
mobile lips, stood up and sniffed suspiciously. 
With my rifle resting on a rock, I took a quick but 
deliberate aim at the light mark on his chest, and 
presned the trigger. It was a happy moment, and 
I tingled all over to see him collapse at the shot 
and drop dead without a sound. 
We returned to camp and had a bath and break- 
fast, after which we prepared to bolt the other 
inmates of the cave, hoping to find G.'s animal and 
finish him off. Peter who loved to be thought a 
bit of a shikari, was deputed to carry my spare 
rifle and the crackers, and on arriving at the spot we 
made a careful survey, finding as we had expected 
another entrance to the cave about 15 yards from 
the first. Talking our loudest, we lit a candle and 
peered into the large entrance, and saw dimly that 
there were several deep holes in which the brutes 
were probably lying, listening to every sound we 
made. We directed the two boys to jabber their 
loudest and walk away. After their voices had 
died down, we left Peter at the large entrance 
and crept round to the other. At a sign from G 
Peter then lit one of the crackers and threw it in. 
There Avas a muffled report followed by the most 
infernal chorus of coughing barks, and to our 
consternation, out rushed a bear, not from the er- 
trance we commanded but the one near which Peter 
stood. With a yell that would have wakened the 
Seven Sleepers, he dropped everything and ran 
like a rabbit, followed by the bear, which I at 
once noticed was going lame. We could not slnot 
as Peter, in dodging among the rocks, constantly 
crossed the line of fire. We went after bim, but 
