The Rifle And The Hound In Ceylon(Fiscle Part-3) by Sir Samuel White Baker (reading books for 4 year olds txt) 📖

Round To The Opposite Side Of The Cover,  And Took

My Position Upon An Extensive Lawn Of Fine Grass About Half A Mile In

Width.

 

I Had Not Remained A Minute At My Post Before I Heard A Crash In The

Jungle,  As Though An Elephant Were Charging Through,  And In Another

Instant,  A Splendid Buck Burst Upon The Plain At Full Speed,  And Away He

Flew Over The Level Lawn,  With The Brace Of Greyhounds Laying Out About

Fifty Paces Behind Him. Here Was A Fair Trial Of Speed Over A Perfect

Bowling-Green,  And Away They Flew,  The Buck Exerting His Utmost Stride,

And The Greyhounds Stretching Out Till Their Briskets Nearly Touched The

Ground; Killbuck Leading With Tremendous Bounds,  And Lena About A Length

Behind Him.

 

By Degrees The Beautiful Spring Of The Greyhounds Appeared To Tell,  And

The Distance Between Them And The Buck Gradually Decreased,  Although

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Both Deer And Dogs Flew Along With Undiminished Speed. The Plain Was

Nearly Crossed,  And The Opposite Jungle Lay Within 200 Yards Of Them. To

Gain This,  The Buck Redoubled His Exertions; The Greyhounds Knew As Well

As He Did,  That It Was His Chance Of Escape,  And With Equal Efforts They

Pressed Upon Him. Not Fifty Paces Now Separated The Buck From The

Jungle,  And With Prodigious Bounds He Sped Along; He Neared It; He Won

It! The Yielding Branches Crashed Before Him,  But The Dogs Were At His

Haunches As The Jungle Closed Over Them And Concealed The Chase.

 

I Was Soon Up; And Upon Entering The Jungle,  I Could Neither Hear Nor

See Anything Of Them,  But,  By Following Up The Track,  I Found Them About

Fifty Yards From The Entrance Of The Bush. The Buck Was Standing On The

Sandy Bed Of A Dry Stream,  Endeavouring In Vain To Free Himself,  While

The Greyhounds Pinned His Nose To The Ground,  Each Hanging Upon His

Ears. The Knife Finished Him Immediately. There Never Was A More

Exciting Course; It Had Been Nobly Run By Both The Dogs,  And Well

Contested By The Buck,  Who Was A Splendid Fellow And In Fine Condition.

 

On My Way To The Tent I Wounded A Doe At Full Speed,  Which Lena Followed

Singly And Pulled Down,  Thus Securing Our Coolies A Good Supply Of

Venison. The Flesh Of The Spotted Deer Is More Like Mutton Than English

Venison,  And Is Excellent Eating; It Would Be Still Better If The

Climate Would Allow Of Its Being Kept For A Few Days.

 

There Is No Sport In Ceylon,  In My Opinion,  That Is Equal To

Deer-Coursing,  But The Great Difficulty Attending It,  Is The Lack Of

Good Greyhounds. The Spotted Buck (Or Axis) Is An Animal Of Immense

Power And Courage; And Although Most Greyhounds Would Course Him,  Very

Few Would Have Sufficient Courage And Strength To Hold Him,  Unless

Slipped Two Brace At A Time,  Which Would Immediately Spoil The Sport. A

Brace Of Greyhounds To One Buck Is Fair Play,  And A Good Strong Horse

Will Generally Keep Them In View. In Two Weeks' Coursing In The Park,  We

Killed Seventeen Deer With Three Greyhounds; At The Expiration Of Which

Time,  The Dogs Were So Footsore And Wounded By The Hard Burnt Stubble Of

The Old Grass That They Were Obliged To Be Sent Home.

 

When The Greyhounds Had Left,  I Turned My Attention To Elephants. There

Were Very Few At This Season In The Park,  And I Therefore Left This Part

Of The Country,  Which Was Dried Up,  And Proceeded To Kondawataweny,  In

The Direction Of Batticaloa.*(*The Jungles Have Now Been Cleared Away,

And A Plain Of 25,000 Acres Of Rice Cultivation Has Usurped The Old

Resort Of Elephants.) Kondawataweny Is A Small Village,  Inhabited By

Moormen,  Situated On The Edge Of A Large Lake Or Tank. Upon Arrival,  I

Found That The Neighbourhood Was Alive With Game Of All Kinds,  And The

Moormen Were Excellent Hands At Elephants. There Was Accordingly No

Difficulty In Procuring Good Gun-Bearers And Trackers,  And At 4 P.M. Of

The Day Of Our Arrival,  We Started To Make A Circuit Of The Tank In

Quest Of The Big Game. At About 5 P.M. We Observed Several Rogues

Scattered In Various Directions Around The Lake; One Of These Fellows,

Whose Close Acquaintance I Made With The Telescope,  I Prophesied Would

Show Some Fight Before We Owned His Tail. This Elephant Was Standing

Some Distance In The Water,  Feeding And Bathing. There Were Two

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Elephants Close To The Water's Edge Between Him And Us,  And We

Determined To Have A Shot At Them En Passant,  And Then Try To Bag The

Big Fellow.

 

Although We Stalked Very Cautiously Along The Edge Of The Jungle Which

Surrounded The Lake,  Divided From It By A Strip Of Plain Of About 200

Yards In Width,  The Elephants Winded Us,  And Retreated Over The Patina*

(*Grassy Plains) At Full Speed Towards The Jungle. Endeavouring To Cut

Them Off Before They Could Reach The Thick Cover,  We Ran At Our Best

Pace Along The Edge Of The Jungle,  So As To Meet Them At Right Angles.

One Reached The Jungle Before Us,  But A Lucky Shot At A Distance Of

Sixty Paces Floored The Other,  Who Lay Struggling On The Ground,  And Was

Soon Extinguished. Having Reloaded,  We Went In Quest Of The Large Rogue,

Who Was Bathing In The Tank. This Gentleman Had Decamped,  Having Taken

Offence At The Firing.

 

Close To The Edge Of The Lake Grew A Patch Of Thick Thorny Jungle Of

About Two Acres,  Completely Isolated,  And Separated From The Main Jungle

By About Eighty Paces' Length Of Fine Turf. The Moormen Knew The Habits

Of This Rogue,  Who Was Well Known In The Neighbourhood,  And They At Once

Said,  "That He Had Concealed Himself In The Small Patch Of Jungle." Upon

Examining The Tracks From The Tank,  We Found They Were Correct.

 

The Question Was,  How To Dislodge Him; The Jungle Was So Dense That It

Was Impossible To Enter,  And Driving Was The Only Chance.

 

There Was A Small Bush Within A Few Paces Of The Main Jungle,  Exactly

Opposite That In Which The Elephant Was Concealed,  And We Determined To

Hide Behind This,  While A Few Moormen Should Endeavour To Drive Him From

His Retreat,  In Which Case,  He Would Be Certain To Make For The Main

Forest,  And Would Most Probably Pass Near The Bush,  Behind Which We Lay

In Wait For Him. Giving The Moormen A Gun,  We Took To Our Hiding-Place.

The Men Went Round To The Tank Side Of The Patch Of Jungle,  And

Immediately Commenced Shouting And Firing; Securing Themselves From An

Attack By Climbing Into The Highest Trees. A Short Interval Elapsed,  And

Not A Sound Of The Elephant Could Be Heard. The Firing And Shouting

Ceased,  And All Was As Still As Death. Some Of The Moormen Returned From

The Jungle,  And Declared That The Elephant Was Not There; But This Was

All Nonsense; The Fact Was,  They Did Not Like The Idea Of Driving Him

Out. Knowing The Character Of These 'Rogues',  I Felt Convinced That He

Was One Of The Worst Description,  And That He Was Quietly Waiting His

Time,  Until Some One Should Advance Within His Reach. Having Given The

Moormen A Supply Of Powder,  I Again Despatched Them To Drive The Jungle.

Once More The Firing And Shouting Commenced,  And Continued Until Their

Supply Of Powder Was Exhausted: No Effects Had Been Produced; It Was

Getting Late,  And The Rogue Appeared Determined Not To Move. A Dead

Silence Ensued,  Which Was Presently Disturbed By The Snapping Of A

Bough; In Another Moment The Jungle Crashed,  And Forth Stepped The

Object Of Our Pursuit! He Was A Magnificent Elephant,  One Of The Most

Vicious In Appearance That I Have Ever Seen; He Understood The Whole

Affair As Well As We Did; And Flourishing His Trunk,  He Paced Quickly

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Backwards And Forwards For A Few Turns Before The Jungle He Had Just

Quitted; Suddenly Making His Resolution,  He Charged Straight At The Bush

Behind Which We Had Imagined Ourselves Concealed. He Was About Eighty

Yards Off When He Commenced His Onset; And Seeing That We Were

Discovered,  I Left The Hiding-Place,  And Stepped To The Front Of The

Bush To Meet Him With The Four-Ounce Rifle. On He Came At A Great Pace,

Carrying His Head Very High,  And Making Me The Sole Object Of His

Attack. I Made Certain Of The Shot,  Although His Head Was In A Difficult

Position,  And I Accordingly Waited For Him Till He Was Within Fifteen

Paces. At This Distance I Took A Steady Shot And Fired. A Cloud Of

Smoke,  From The Heavy Charge Of Powder,  Obscured Everything,  But I Felt

So Certain That He Was Down,  That I Looked Under The Smoke To See Where

He Lay. Ye Gods! He Was Just Over Me In Full Charge! I Had Not Even

Checked Him By The Shot,  And He Was Within Three Feet Of Me,  Going At A

Tremendous Pace. Throwing My Heavy Rifle Into The Bush,  I Doubled

Quickly To One Side,  Hoping That He Would Pass Me And Take To The Main

Jungle,  To Which I Ran Parallel As Fast As My Legs Could Carry Me.

Instead Of Taking To The Jungle,  He Turned Short And Quickly After Me,

And A Fair Race Commenced. I Had About Three Feet Start Of Him,  And I

Saw With Delight That The Ground Was As Level And Smooth As A Lawn;

There Was No Fear Of Tripping Up,  And Away I Went At The Fastest Pace

That I Ever Ran Either Before Or Since,  Taking A Look Behind Me To See

How The Chase Went On. I Saw The Bullet-Mark In His Forehead,  Which Was

Covered With Blood; His Trunk Was Stretched To Its Full Length To Catch

Me,  And Was Now Within Two Feet Of My Back; He Was Gaining On Me,

Although I Was Running At A Tremendous Pace. I Could Not Screw An Inch

More Speed Out Of My Legs,  And I Kept On,  With The Brute Gaining On Me

At Every Stride. He Was Within A Foot Of Me,  And I Had Not Heard A Shot

Fired,  And Not A Soul Had Come To The Rescue. The Sudden Thought Struck

Me That My Brother Could Not Possibly Overtake The Elephant At The Pace

At Which We Were Going,  And I Immediately Doubled Short