guided by its true spirit of fair play, it is a feeling that will make him above doing a mean thing in every station of life, and will give him real feelings of humanity. I have had great experience in the characters of thorough sportsmen, who are generally straightforward, honourable men, who would scorn to take a dirty advantage of man or animal. In fact, all real sportsmen that I have met have been tender-hearted men—who shun cruelty to an animal, and are easily moved by a tale of distress.

With these feelings, sport is an amusement worthy of a man, and this noble taste has been extensively developed since the opportunities of travelling have of late years been so wonderfully improved. The facility with which the most remote regions are now reached, renders a tour over some portion of the globe a necessary adjunct to a man's education; a sportsman naturally directs his path to some land where civilisation has not yet banished the wild beast from the soil.

Ceylon is a delightful country for the sporting tourist. In the high road to India and China, any length of time may be spent en passant, and the voyage by the Overland route is nothing but a trip of a few weeks of pleasure.

This island has been always celebrated for its elephants, but the other branches of sport are comparatively unknown to strangers. No account has ever been written which embraces all Ceylon sports: anecdotes of elephant-shooting fill the pages of nearly every work on Ceylon; but the real character of the wild sports of this island has never been described, because the writers have never been acquainted with each separate branch of the Ceylon chase.

A residence of many years in this lovely country, where the wild sports of the island have formed a never-failing and constant amusement, alone confers sufficient experience to enable a person to give a faithful picture of both shooting and hunting in Ceylon jungles.

In describing these sports I shall give no anecdotes of others, but I shall simply recall scenes in which I myself have shared, preferring even a character for egotism rather than relate the statements of hearsay, for the truth of which I could not vouch. This must be accepted as an excuse for the unpleasant use of the first person.

There are many first-rate sportsmen in Ceylon who could furnish anecdotes of individual risks and hairbreadth escapes (the certain accompaniments to elephant-shooting) that would fill volumes; but enough will be found, in the few scenes which I have selected from whole hecatombs of slaughter, to satisfy and perhaps fatigue the most patient reader.

One fact I wish to impress upon all—that the colouring of every description is diminished and not exaggerated, the real scene being in all cases a picture, of which the narration is but a feeble copy.

DETAILED CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER 1.
Wild Country—Dealings in the Marvellous—Enchanting Moments—The
Wild Elephant of Ceylon—'Rogues'—Elephant Slaughter—Thick
Jungles—Character of the Country—Varieties of Game in Ceylon—'Battery
for Ceylon Sport'—The Elk or 'Samber Deer'—Deer-coursing

CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER II.
Newera Ellia—The Turn-out for Elk-hunting—Elk-hunting—Elk turned to
Bay—The Boar

CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER III.
Minneria Lake—Brush with a Bull—An Awkward Vis-a-vis—A Bright
Thought—Bull Buffalo Receives his Small Change—What is Man?—Long Shot
with the Four-ounce—Charged by a Herd of Buffaloes—The Four-ounce
does Service—The 'Lola'—A Woman killed by a Crocodile—Crocodile at
Bolgodde Lake—A Monster Crocodile—Death of a Crocodile

CHAPTER IV.

CHAPTER IV.
Equipment for a Hunting Trip—In Chase of a Herd of Elephants—Hard
Work—Close Quarters—Six Feet from the Muzzle—A Black with a Devil

CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER V.
The Four-ounce again—Tidings of a Rogue—Approaching a Tank Rogue—An
Exciting Moment—Ruins of Pollanarua—Ancient Ruins—Rogues at
Doolana—B. Charged by a Rogue—Planning an Attack—A Check—Narrow
Escape—Rogue-stalking—A Bad Rogue—Dangers of Elephant-shooting—The
Phatamahatmeya's Tale

CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VI.
Character of the Veddahs—Description of the Veddahs—A Monampitya
Rogue—Attacking the Rogue—Breathless Excitement—Death of a Large
Rogue—Utility of the Four-ounce—A Curious Shot—Fury of a Bull
Buffalo—Character of the Wild Buffalo—Buffalo-shooting at Minneria
Lake—Charge in High Reeds—Close of a Good Day's Sport—Last Day at
Minneria—A Large Snake—An Unpleasant Bedfellow

CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VII.
Capabilities of Ceylon—Deer at Illepecadewe—Sagacity of a Pariah
Dog—Two Deer at One Shot—Deer-stalking—Hambantotte Country—Kattregam
Festival—Sitrawelle—Ruins of Ancient Mahagam—Wiharewelle—A Night
Attack upon Elephants—Shooting by Moonlight—Yalle River—Another
Rogue—A Stroll before Breakfast—A Curious Shot—A Good Day's Sport

CHAPTER VIII.

CHAPTER VIII.
Best Hounds for Elk-hunting—Smut—Killbuck—The Horton Plains—A Second
Soyer—The Find—The Buck at Bay—The Bay—The Death—Return of Lost
Dogs—Comparative Speed of Deer—Veddah Ripped by a Boar—A Melee—Buck
at Black Pool—Old Smut's Ruse—Margosse Oil

CHAPTER IX.

CHAPTER IX.
A Morning's Deer-coursing—Kondawataweny—Rogue at Kondawataweny—A
Close Shave—Preparations for Catching an Elephant—Catching
an Elephant—Taming Him—Flying Shot at a Buck—Cave at
Dimbooldene—Awkward Ground—A Charmed Life

CHAPTER X.

CHAPTER X.
Another Trip to the Park—A Hard Day's Work—Discover a Herd—Death of
the Herd—A Furious Charge—Caught at Last—The Consequences—A Thorough
Rogue—Another Herd in High Lemon Grass—Bears—A Fight between a
Moorman and a Bear—A Musical Herd—Herd Escape—A Plucky Buck—Death of
'Killbuck'—Good Sport with a Herd—End of the Trip

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