354 
WILD BLASTS AND THEIR WA YS 
CHAP. 
the purpose, and there is no limit to the area where 
pheasants, wild-fowl, snipe, deer, and wild pigs may 
be shot, without the slightest difficulty or personal 
exertion. 
There are several varieties of small deer both in 
Ceylon and India. The barking deer (C. muntjac) 
is an exceedingly pretty creature of a light red 
colour, which occasioned the name given to it in 
Ceylon, “red-deer.” This little animal affords some 
amusement in the low country of that island with a 
scratch pack of native dogs, as it has a very power¬ 
ful scent, which the dogs seldom lose ; it never goes 
straight away, but runs round the numerous undulat¬ 
ing hills, across the paddy-fields in the bottoms, 
back again over the summits, and is generally killed 
in the thick bush, after having left its mark upon 
one or two of its pursuers, in some awkward cuts 
with its sharp tusks. 
These are like boar’s tusks reversed, projecting 
from the upper jaw and turning downwards. They 
are very long and sharp, and inflict wounds of 
greater extent than would be expected from so 
small a creature. 
There is also in Ceylon a diminutive species, the 
mouse-deer, which is not larger than a hare. The 
male of this variety is devoid of horns. 
Although I mention this most insignificant variety, 
it may be remarked that I have omitted the name of 
the largest of all the Cervidae, the moose (C. A Ices , 
Lin.) This is intentional, as I have never seen the 
species in a wild state. The object of this work was 
