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

Tracks Of A Herd; And As We Expected

Wortley And Palliser On The Following Day,  We Would Not Disturb The

Country,  But Returned To Minneria And Passed The Afternoon In Shooting

Snipe And Crocodiles. The Latter Were In Incredible Numbers,  As The

Whole Population Of This Usually Extensive Lake Was Now Condensed In The

Comparatively Small Extent Of Water Before Us. The Fish Of Course Were

Equally Numerous,  And We Had An Unlimited Supply Of 'Lola' Of Three To

Four Pounds Weight At A Penny Each. Our Gang Of Coolies Feasted Upon

Them In Immense Quantities,  And Kept A Native Fully Employed In Catching

Them. Our Cook Exerted His Powers In Producing Some Piquante Dishes With

These Fish. Stewed With Melted Butter (Ghee),  With Anchovy Sauce,

Madeira,  Sliced Onion And Green Chillies,  This Was A Dish Worthy Of

'Soyer,' But They Were Excellent In All Shapes,  Even If Plain Boiled Or

Fried.

 

Nov. 19.--At About Four P.M. I Scanned The Plain With My Telescope,  In

Expectation Of The Arrival Of Our Companions,  Whom I Discovered In The

Distance,  And As They Approached Within Hearing,  We Greeted Them With A

Shout Of Welcome To Show The Direction Of Our Encampment. We Were A

Merry Party That Evening At Dinner,  And We Determined To Visit Cowdelle,

And Track Up The Herd That We Had Discovered,  Directly That The Moormen

Trackers Should Arrive From Doolana.

 

The Worst Of This Country Was The Swarm Of Mosquitoes Which Fed Upon Us

At Night; It Was Impossible To Sleep With The Least Degree Of Comfort,

And We Always Hailed The Arrival Of Morning With Delight.

 

Nov. 20.-At Dawn This Morning,  Before Daylight Could Be Called

Complete,  Palliser Had Happened To Look Out From The Tent,  And To His

Surprise He Saw A Rogue Elephant Just Retreating To The Jungle,  At About

Two Hundred Yards Distance. We Loaded The Guns And Went After Him In As

Short A Time As Possible,  But He Was Too Quick For Us,  And He Had

Retreated To Thick Jungle Before We Were Out. Wortley And I Then

Strolled Along The Edge Of The Jungle,  Hoping To Find Him Again In Some

Of The Numerous Nooks Which The Plain Formed By Running Up The Forest.

We Had Walked Quietly Along For About Half A Mile,  When We Crossed An

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Abrupt Rocky Promontory,  Which Stretched From The Jungle Into The Lake

Like A Ruined Pier. On The Other Side,  The Lake Formed A Small Bay,

Shaded By The Forest,  Which Was Separated From The Water's Edge By A

Gentle Slope Of Turf About Fifty Yards In Width. This Bay Was A

Sheltered Spot,  And As We Crossed The Rocky Promontory,  The Noise That

We Made Over The Loose Stones In Turning The Corner,  Disturbed A Herd Of

Six Deer,  Five Of Whom Dashed Into The Jungle; The Sixth Stopped For A

Moment At The Edge Of The Forest To Take A Parting Look At Us. He Was

The Buck Of The Herd,  And Carried A Noble Pair Of Antlers; He Was About

A Hundred And Twenty Yards From Us,  And I Took A Quick Shot At Him With

One Of The No. 10 Rifles. The Brushwood Closed Over Him As He Bounded

Into The Jungle,  But An Ominous Crack Sounded Back From The Ball,  Which

Made Me Think He Was Hit. At This Moment Palliser And V. Baker Came

Running Up,  Thinking That We Had Found The Elephant.

 

The Buck Was Standing Upon Some Snow-White Quartz Rocks When I Fired,

And Upon An Examination Of The Spot Frothy Patches Of Blood Showed That

He Was Struck Through The Lungs. Men Are Bloodthirsty Animals,  For

Nothing Can Exceed The Pleasure,  After Making A Long Shot,  Of Finding

The Blood-Track On The Spot When The Animal Is Gone. We Soon Tracked Him

Up,  And Found Him Lying Dead In The Jungle Within Twenty Yards Of The

Spot. This Buck Was The First Head Of Game We Had Bagged,  With The

Exception Of A Young Elk That I Had Shot On Horseback During The Ride

From Dambool. We Had Plenty Of Snipe,  And,  What With Fish,  Wildfowl,  And

Venison,  Our Breakfast Began To Assume An Inviting Character. After

Breakfast We Shot A Few Couple Of Snipe Upon The Plain,  And In The

Evening We Formed Two Parties--Palliser And V. Baker,  And Wortley And

Myself--And Taking Different Directions,  We Scoured The Country,

Agreeing To Meet At The Tent At Dusk.

 

W. And I Saw Nothing Beyond The Fresh Tracks Of Game Which Evidently

Came Out Only At Night. We Wandered About Till Evening,  And Then

Returned Towards The Tent. On The Way I Tried A Long Shot At A Heron

With A Rifle; He Was Standing At About A Hundred And Fifty Yards From

Us,  And By Great Good Luck I Killed Him.

 

On Arrival At The Tent We Found P. And V. B.,  Who Had Returned. They Had

Been More Fortunate In Their Line Of Country,  Having Found Two Rogue

Elephants--One In Thick Jungle,  Which V. B. Fired At And Missed; And

Shortly After This Shot They Found Another Rogue On The Plain Not Far

From The Tent. The Sun Was Nearly Setting,  And Shone Well In The

Elephant's Eyes; Thus They Were Able To Creep Pretty Close To Him

Without Being Observed,  And P. Killed Him By A Good Shot With A Rifle,

At About Twenty-Five Yards. In My Opinion This Was The Same Elephant

That Had Been Seen Near The Tent Early In The Morning.

 

Wallace,  With The Rhatamahatmeya And The Trackers,  Had Arrived,  And We

Resolved To Start For Cowdelle At Daybreak On The Following Morning.

 

Nov. 21.--Having Made Our Preparations Over Night For An Early Start,

We Were Off At Daybreak,  Carrying With Us The Cook With His Utensils,

And The Canteen Containing Everything That Could Be Required For

Breakfast. We Were Thus Prepared For A Long Day's Work,  Should It Be

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After A Ride Of About Eight Miles Along A Sandy Path,  Bordered By Dense

Jungle,  We Arrived At The Open But Marshy Ground Upon Which We Had Seen

The Tracks Of The Herd A Few Days Previous. Fresh Elephant Tracks Had

Accompanied Us The Whole Way Along Our Path,  And A Herd Was Evidently

Somewhere In The Vicinity,  As The Path Was Obstructed In Many Places By

The Branches Of Trees Upon Which They Had Been Feeding During The Night.

The Sandy Ground Was Likewise Printed With Innumerable Tracks Of Elk,

Deer,  Hogs And Leopards. We Halted Under Some Wide-Spreading Trees,

Beneath Which,  A Clear Stream Of Water Rippled Over A Bed Of White

Pebbles,  With Banks Of Fine Green Sward. In This Spot Were Unmistakable

Tracks Of Elephants,  Where They Had Been Recently Drinking. The Country

Was Park-Like,  But Surrounded Upon Its Borders With Thick Jungles;

Clumps Of Thorny Bushes Were Scattered Here And There,  And An Abundance

Of Good Grass Land Water Ensured A Large Quantity Of Game. The Elephants

Were Evidently Not Far Off,  And Of Course Were Well Secured In The

Thorny Jungles

 

Wortley Had Never Yet Seen A Wild Elephant,  And A Dense Jungle Is By No

Means A Desirable Place For An Introduction To This Kind Of Game. It Is

A Rule Of Mine Never To Follow Elephants In Such Ground,  Where They

Generally Have It All Their Own Way; But,  As There Are Exceptions To All

Rules,  We Determined To Find Them,  After Having Taken So Much Trouble In

Making Our Arrangements.

 

We Unsaddled,  And Ordered Breakfast To Be Ready For Our Return Beneath

One Of The Most Shady Trees; Having Loaded,  We Started Off Upon The

Tracks. As I Had Expected,  They Led To A Thick Thorny Jungle,  And Slowly

And Cautiously We Followed The Leading Tracker. The Jungle Became Worse

And Worse As We Advanced,  And Had It Not Been For The Path Which The

Elephants Had Formed,  We Could Not Have Moved An Inch. The Leaves Of The

Bushes Were Wet With Dew,  And We Were Obliged To Cover Up All The

Gun-Locks To Prevent Any Of Them Missing Fire. We Crept For About A

Quarter Of A Mile Upon This Track,  When The Sudden Snapping Of A Branch

A Hundred Paces In Advance Plainly Showed That We Were Up With The Game.

 

This Is The Exciting Moment In Elephant-Shooting,  And Every Breath Is

Held For A Second Intimation Of The Exact Position Of The Herd. A Deep,

Guttural Sound,  Like The Rolling Of Very Distant Thunder,  Is Heard,

Accompanied By The Rustling And Cracking Of The Branches As They Rub

Their Tough Sides Against The Trees. Our Advance Had Been So Stealthy

That They Were Perfectly Undisturbed. Silently And Carefully We Crept

Up,  And In A Few Minutes I Distinguished Two Immense Heads Exactly

Facing Us At About Ten Paces Distant. Three More Indistinct Forms Loomed

In The Thick Bushes Just Behind The Leaders.

 

A Quiet Whisper To Wortley To Take A Cool Shot At The Left-Hand

Elephant,  In The Exact Centre Of The Forehead,  And Down Went The Two

Leaders! Wortley's And Mine; Quickly We Ran Into The Herd,  Before They

Knew What Had Happened,  And Down Went Another To V Baker's Shot. The

Smoke Hung In Such Thick Volumes That We Could Hardly See Two Yards

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Before Us,  When Straight Into The Cloud Of Smoke An Elephant Rushed

Towards Us. V. Baker Fired,  But Missed; And My Left-Hand Barrel

Extinguished Him. Running Through The Smoke With A Spare Rifle I Killed

The Last Elephant. They Were All Bagged--Five Elephants Within Thirty

Seconds From The First Shot Fired. Wortley Had Commenced Well,  Having

Killed His First Elephant With One Shot.

 

We Found Breakfast Ready On Our Return To The Horses,  And Having

Disturbed This Part Of The Country By The Heavy Volley At The Herd,  We

Returned To Minneria.

 

 

 

 

 

I Was Convinced That We Could Expect No Sport In This Neighbourhood; We

Therefore Held A Consultation As To Our Line Of Country.

 

Some Years Ago I Had Entered The North Of The Veddah Country From This

Point,  And I Now Proposed That We Should Start Upon A Trip Of Discovery,

And Endeavour To Penetrate From The North To The South Of The Veddah

Country Into The 'Park.' No Person Had Ever Shot Over This Route,  And

The Wildness Of The Idea Only Increased The Pleasure Of The Trip. We Had

Not The Least Idea Of The Distance,  But We Knew The Direction