Oct.  I,  1895.]  TIIK  TROPICAL 
DAYS  OP  OLD  AND  SPORT  IN  CEYLON. 
(By  a famous  Itarontcar.) 
August  Hi. 
KANOV  IX  TIIK  FORTIES. 
To  hilVk  back  a bit.  In  1845  tlie  only  Hotel 
ill  Kandy  was  ‘•'Silencer’s”  kejit  by  an  old -Mess 
Sergeant  of  tlie  IHtb  Royal  Irish.  'I  liis  was  the 
iMiildiin'  afterwards  known  as  the  otlice  of  Messrs. 
Keir,  Dnndas  A'  Co.  In  this  hostelry  society 
was  of  a very  mixed  order,  the  food  execralne, 
and  discomfort  rampant.  Mr.  Venn,  in  addition 
to  his  Colombo  business,  had  a store  in  Irinco- 
malee  Street,  Kandy,  superintended  by  a "party 
of  the  name  of  Walker.  I’liis  unfortunate  nian 
met  with  some  accident  and  Shipton  cut  his  leg 
oil.  Asking  Venn  some  time  afterwards  how 
tliis  unfortunate  fellow  was  getting  on.  "tlh  ! 
siiid  he,  "lirst  class,  wonderfully  cared  for,^ 
public  sympathy,  my  dear  sir,  public  sym[)athy.” 
Rut  I <i()ul)t  if"he  got  very  fat  upon  that.  There 
was  another  shop  of  all  sorts  a little  higher  uj), 
kept  by  a ^Ir.  Hart,  who  besides  announcing 
that  he  sold  everything  from  a needle  to  an  anchor, 
dabbled  a bit  'in  the  tine  arts,  and  did  some 
sweet  things  in  oils  of  a bold  colonry  nature. 
Remarking  on  one  of  these  one  day,  1 said, 
"Surely,  Mr.  Hart,  that  is  copied  from  one  of 
the  old  masters?”  "Right  you  are,”  reidied  the 
artist,  “ that’s  taken  from  one  of  Crackers”  (Cara- 
vagio).  MMlfehaila  store  on  the  Esplanade,  Brodie 
was  just  ojiening  iu  Malabar  Street,  and  several 
other  "Emporiums”  were  kept  by  Burghers. 
One  of  the  evening  amusements  in  Trincomalee 
Street  was  to  ins[)ect  tlie  bakers,  where  regu- 
larly every  night  the  i)erformance  took  place  of 
a couple  of  perspiring  coolies  kneading  an  im- 
mense lump  of  dough  with  their  naked  feet  ! 
(This  style  may  be  going  on  at  the  present  time 
tor  aught  I know.) 
At  that  period  there  was  great  progress  being 
made  in  opening  up 
THE  MATALE  DISTRICT. 
I well  remember  the  Matale  Resthouse  being  kept 
by  a Mr.  Carruthers,  and  an  advertisement  of 
his  in  the  Ceylon  Herald,  in  which  Mr.  (’arruthers 
vaunted  the  extraordinary  advantages  offered  by 
his  establishment,  adding  " Here  hadies  may  board 
ihemselves  or  can  he  lioarded  by  Mr.  Carruthers.” 
At  that  time  the  Mahawiliganga  was  crossed  at 
Katugastota  by  a ferry  boat.  The  bridge  was  not 
comjdeted  until  1859’  by  the  I’.W.D.,  Churchill 
in  charge ; m bile  my  old  friend  Capt.  Donald 
Graham  built  the  Gampola  bridge.  Executions 
were  carried  out  in  public  then,  on  a mound  called 
"Gallows  Hill,”  aj)])ropriately  ; somewhere  about 
the  regions  of  the  Kandy  new  market.  I hap- 
l)cned  to  be  present  on  one  occasion,  when  the 
criminal,  who  was  one  of  the  biggest  Sinhalese 
I ever  saw,  broke  the  rope  three  times  in  suc- 
cession. Whether  there  was  any  collusion  be- 
tween the  hangman  and  the  (uilprit  I don’t  knowg 
but  three  times  he  was  strung  up  and  three 
times  the  rope  failed  to  hold  him — a grievous 
sight.  Then  young  Kerstcrman  who  was  afterwards 
in  tlie  Rifles,  galloped  off  to  the  Pavilion  wdiere 
Lord  Torrington  happened  to  be  staying  at  the 
time,  and  begged  his  interference  which  resulted 
in  a temporary  reprieve  ; this  however  came  just 
in  time  to  save  a fourth  atiemjit  being  made. 
Tlie  unfortunate  man  died  afterwards  in  gaol, 
thus  cheating  the  scaffold.  I believe  he  was  guilty 
of  some  atrocious  murder. 
Judging  by  your  paper, 
33 
AGRICULTURIrrr.  263 
THE  MERRY  RUHOLAR 
apjiears  to  be  doing  a thriving  trade  in  your  part 
of  the  world.  During  my  Ceylon  experiences  I 
sufl'ered  severely  from  roblieries — the  \vorst  being 
the  theft  of  my  wife’s  dressing  ca.se  with  between 
£300  and  £400  worth  of  jewellery.  This  was  stolen 
out  of  a safe  during  the  time  I rvas  ill  in  Co- 
lombo. At  the  same  time  everything  in  the  way 
of  linen,  blankets,  sheets,  &C.,  were  stolen  out 
of  the  Glenloch  bungalow,  in  fact  a clean  sweeji 
of  nearly  eveiything  that  was  portable.  But  not 
a clue,  or  a trace  of  these  was  ever  found,  al- 
though  my  name  was  marked  upon  all  the  table 
and  bed  linen,  and  even  woven  into  some  of  the 
blankets.  With  you  still,  robbery  appears  of 
nightly  occurrence,  and  detection  by  the  Police 
unusually  disap()ointing.  No^^’,  how  is  this? 
r will  enlighten  you.  Say  a whole.sale  clearance 
is  made  of  some  bungalow,  the  loot  is  canned  oft’ 
at  once  to  one  of  tlie  native  .schooners  or  dhonies 
in  the  harbour,  and  is  safely  landed  at  Tuticorin, 
or  some  other  ladjacent  jiort,  in  tlie  course  of  a 
day  or  two,  and  there  dispo.seil  of.  It  is  never 
kept  in  Ceylon,  but  directly  the  haul  is  made 
the  enterprising  cracksman  embarks  his  swag, 
most  probably  .some  of  the  gallant  crew  being 
his  pals.  This  is  the  way  it  i.s  done  ! and  if  a 
proper  search  i.s  instituted,  just  as  one  of  the.se 
craft  are  getting  under  weigh  I’ll  be  bound  a 
haul  will  be  made.  I remember  pointing  all 
this  out  to  your  late  Sujierintendent  of  Police, 
but  nothing  came  of  that.  Police,  Lord  bless 
you,  I know  a bit,  especially  about  police  ser- 
geants in  cliarge  of  districts,  you  bet  ! A more 
corrupt  lot  did  not  exist  in  my  day,  but  all  that 
is  changed  n’est  pas? 
There  was  a good  deal  of 
EEK  HUNTING  IN  THE  FORTIE.S 
and  beginning  of  the  fifties.  There  were  two  fine 
packs  in  Dimbula  in  1850.  One  was  ow’iied  by 
William  Fairholme  at  Wattegoda  conjointly  with 
Fred,  and  Edward  Palliser  at  liadella.  The  other 
by  .Jack  Bannister  at  Bogahawatte.  The  Dim- 
bula jungles  then  with  the  enormous  acreage 
unopened,  swarmed  with  elk,  and  there  were 
also  many  more  leopards  knocking  about  than 
in  these  days,  and  many  a costly  Englisli 
foxhound  fell  a prey  to  these  whilst  return- 
ing jaded  after  a long  unsuccessful  run ; so 
that  what  with  disease  and  occasional  loss  of 
hounds,  a jiack  was  an  expensive  establishment 
to  keep  up.  The  progenj’  raised  from  English 
stock  were  le.ss  subject  to  disease,  better  acclima- 
tized, and  not  so  subject  to  the  prevailing  maladies 
of  pneumonia  and  enlargement  of  the  liver,  which 
was  generally  the  case  with  all  imported  hounds. 
Many  a nice  pup  have  I seen  brought  up  by  a 
foster-mother  in  the  shape  of  a Tamil  girl,  (no 
doubt  this  will  shock  your  delicacy,)  till  they 
were  able  to  lap  the  brose  them.selves,  and  good 
nurses  they  were,  and  proud  of  their  four-footed 
charge. 
AN  ELEPHANT 
put  in  an  appearance  in  one  of  the  ravines  below 
Bogahawatte  e.state.  Some  coglies  ran  up  to  tell 
Bannister.  He  had  no  bullets  in  the  house  or 
bulletmould,  so  he  set  to  work,  and  melted  down 
.some  spoons,  and  cast  two  or  three  balls  in  a to- 
bacco pipe,  with  which  when  hammered  a bit 
into  sha])e,  he  proceeded  to  load  up  ; tracked  the 
elephant  down  to  the  river,  and  snot  him  in  the 
small  stream  close  by  where  the  short-cut  goes 
up  to  Mt.  Vernon  above  the  Madecoombura  Bridge. 
This  happened  just  before  I came  to  Kelliwattie, 
and  I often  saw  the  skeleton  afterwards,  when  out 
after  elk.  The  head  was  sent  to  Warminster.  Of 
