24 
THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [July 1, 1901, 
INTELLIGENCE OF ELEPHANTS 
is past my understanding. Y — and myself were 
Piter a herd in that belt of forest in R — district 
just above S — estate (there were four in the 
herd) las'i month. I managed to get up to 
within 20 yards and Y — was close behind me, 
when one of the beasts turned round and 
deliberately walked towards me. Although dead 
with fear, I fired and down went the elephant ; 
no sooner was he Hat on the ground than 1 was 
behind him and out with my hunting knife, this 
very knife you see in my belt, and off with his 
tail before you could say Jack Robertson, Mean- 
time Y — had fired, and I went off to see what luck 
he had. Upon my reaching the spot, he shouted, 
' Come along, old chap, and let us drink to 
the bag." So up we scrambled on to the 
top of the carcase of Y.'s fine bull ele- 
phant, killed by 'me bullet in the temple. 
Z-— had got his tail loo and we stood together and 
emptied the flask between us, oh ! so proud of our 
tails. I soon set to work to cut off the elephant's feet 
with the assistance of my gun-coolies ; meantime 
Z — went off to do the same but had not gone many 
minutes when he returned to say the other dead 
elephant was " non est," would I come and see for 
myself. I went and sure enough there were only 
the marks oi the beast having fallen ; nothing 
else bat blood from the bleeding stump of the tail 
was to be seen. 
V/egot the feet of one beast carried down to the 
resthouse, and 1 have with others been so chaffed 
by Z —about the tail that I cast it away and 
hardly ever mention elephant-shooting now. The 
coolies were sent next morning to bring the ears 
of the dead elephant but they returned with a 
yarn that the herd had returned during the night, 
carried away their comrade's body and thrown it 
over a precipiece where they could not go ! " 
jiy the way when 
COCONUT PLANTING 
was first started in Jaffna the elephants were so 
destructive, nipping oft" the tops of the young trees, 
that a reward was offered by Government for their 
destruction. 
For some time great numbers of tails (which 
was all that was required of the beast's body to lay 
claim to the reward) were brought in to the 
kachcheri ; the reward, of R5 I think, was 
always paid up, till it became known that large 
numbers ef elephants were to be seen tail-less. 
The order was issued immediately to bring ele- 
phants' heads before any reward would be paid, but 
very few heads ever came in from Sinhalese 
guns although they were expert enough at cutting 
off tails. 
Upon resuming my journey after a good meal, 
I Degan to ascend the zigzag approaching 
Balangoda ; the air became so bracing and cool 
that it made me feel a new man after th^sweltering 
heat of Katnapura. I soon reached my friend's 
estate where I found a welcome and the hos- 
pitality, which planters have the reputation for, 
was liberally extended to me. After a few days rest, 
1 felt as lit as ever and, with the permission of my 
host, I got leady fvir a start in pursuit of the 
rogue elephant. Coolies were mustered for carrying 
our belongings and we were soon on the footpath 
leading St raigiit upto tiKiforest where the rogue was 
said to reside. M— pushed through abandoned coffee 
estates as if walking for dear life, which was more 
than my feelings could stand, for I had not the 
iron limbs, broad shoulders, and expanded chest 
of a coffee planter ; so I called a halt, and sat 
down shouting to M— to join me in a bit of 
luncheon, or I would not and could not go 
any further that day. We sat down, 
had a sandwich and a drop of the 'crathur' and 
made another <itart soon after. M— began to yarn 
when he saw it was no use trying to pump me 
and said, " Do you remember B—?" " Yes" said I. 
" Well, he shot a oooly for a wild- boar on the 
face of that hill when out 
ELK HUNTING 
with me some 10 years ago, and it was never 
found out what l;ecanie of Kyapen of H — estate. 
Of course I knew bat I never told anybody but 
yourself before. B— is now in Australia." From 
early morning till nearly sunset we walked 
over hill and dale, M— keeping me up to 
the mark by yarning about old H— and M— 
estates, gem mining, &c. in days of old, till 
we reached a woody piece of open patana 
grass land in the middle of virgin forest." 
"Here," he said, "we must camp for the night." 
My reply was, " But how much further have 
we to go tor the rogue ?" " Oh, no distance from 
here," said he, " we are sure to hear him trumpet- 
ing during the night." 
For several years past I had been used to a 
sedentary life, and right glad I wafj to cry halt for 
the day. After a tub and some lunch, whether 
due to the keen mountain air or the food I cannot 
say, but I never felt better and suggested fishing, 
and off we went followed by our coolies to a large 
pool in the stream which was full of fish, A 
couple of dynamite cartridges, with a stone to sink 
them attached, was thrown into the pond, resulting 
in a grand haul of fish, about halt a bag full. After 
all were collected, we returned to camp. Some 
good sport was got following and catching v.'ounded 
fish in the pool which were only stunned, and 
dived whenever we tried to catch them, added 
to the difficulty in holding the slippery things 
when we did close on them. We found the best 
way to catch them was with both hands or by the 
gills with one hand ; but one must be an expert 
swimmer with the feet to be able to use the hands 
freely at all. 
Sportsmen, when out for a short time will find it 
a good plan to put up a few dynamite carbridges, 
with fuses and detonators, for fishingin time of need, 
but one must be careful not to get in the way of 
the smoke from a cartridge in case of % severe 
headache, caused by the nitro -glycerine burning ; 
further, wait for no hints from your friends as to 
the best place to throw the explosive, (as I heard 
of a man doing once till his hand was blown to 
pieces) but decide beforehand, and throw the 
charge as soon as the fuse is lighted. 
We turned in early and I heard M— giving orders 
to the boy to have tea ready by 4 a.m. and to wake 
him sharp at that hour, first cock-crow. It was 
quite dark and abominably early and cold, when I 
heard " Boy ! Boy !" and a rattling of a bucket or 
basin in lieu of a tomtom. " \ es, Sar," shouted the 
boy. " I said I wanted tea at 4, and there is day- 
light. What the d 1 do you mean ?" and whiza 
went a boot. "Sar," roared the boy, " toast and tea 
nearly ready. Now coming, Sar." When I found 
it impossible to sleep after repeated attempts I got 
up. and I found M — ready dressed for the road 
and still blackguarding the servants. Early tea 
over, 
