The Rifle And The Hound In Ceylon(Fiscle Part-3), Sir Samuel White Baker [most inspirational books .txt] 📗

Part 3 Introduction Pg 4

The Love Of Sport Is A Feeling Inherent In Most Englishmen,  And Whether

In The Chase,  Or With The Rod Or Gun,  They Far Excel All Other Nations.

In Fact,  The Definition Of This Feeling Cannot Be Understood By Many

Foreigners. We Are Frequently Ridiculed For Fox-Hunting: 'What For All

Dis People,  Dis Horses,  Dis Many Dog? Dis Leetle (How You Call Him?) Dis

"Fox" For To Catch? Ha! You Eat Dis Creature; He Vary Fat And Fine?'

 

Part 3 Introduction Pg 5

This Is A Foreigner's Notion Of The Chase; He Hunts For The Pot; And By

Englishmen Alone Is The Glorious Feeling Shared Of True,  Fair,  And Manly

Sport. The Character Of The Nation Is Beautifully Displayed In All Our

Rules For Hunting,  Shooting,  Fishing,  Fighting,  Etc.; A Feeling Of Fair

Play Pervades Every Amusement. Who Would Shoot A Hare In Form? Who Would

Net A Trout Stream? Who Would Hit A Man When Down? A Frenchman Would Do

All These Things,  And Might Be No Bad Fellow After All. It Would Be His

Way Of Doing It. His Notion Would Be To Make Use Of An Advantage When An

Opportunity Offered. He Would Think It Folly To Give The Hare A Chance

Of Running When He Could Shoot Her Sitting; He Would Make An Excellent

Dish Of All The Trout He Could Snare; And As To Hitting His Man When

Down,  He Would Think It Madness To Allow Him To Get Up Again Until He

Had Put Him Hors De Combat By Jumping On Him. Their Notions Of Sporting

And Ours,  Then,  Widely Differ; They Take Every Advantage,  While We Give

Every Advantage; They Delight In The Certainty Of Killing,  While Our

Pleasure Consists In The Chance Of The Animal Escaping.

 

I Would Always Encourage The Love Of Sport In A Lad; 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

Part 3 Introduction Pg 6

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.

 

Part 3 Chapter 1 Pg 7

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.

 

It Is A Difficult Task To Describe A Wild Country So Exactly,  That A

Stranger's Eye Shall At Once Be Made Acquainted With Its Scenery And

Character By The Description. And Yet This Is Absolutely Necessary,  If

The Narration Of Sports In Foreign Countries Is Supposed To Interest

Those Who Have Never Had The Opportunity Of Enjoying Them. The Want Of

Graphic Description Of Localities In Which The Events Have Occurred,  Is

The Principal Cause Of That Tediousness Which Generally Accompanies The

Steady Perusal Of A Sporting Work. You Can Read Twenty Pages With

Interest,  But A Monotony Soon Pervades It,  And Sport Then Assumes An

Appearance Of Mere Slaughter.

 

Now,  The Actual Killing Of An Animal,  The Death Itself,  Is Not Sport,

Unless The Circumstances Connected With It Are Such As To Create That

Peculiar Feeling Which Can Only Be Expressed By The Word `Sport.' This

Feeling Cannot Exist In The Heart Of A Butcher; He Would As Soon

Slaughter A Fine Buck By Tying Him To A Post And Knocking Him Down,  As

He Would Shoot Him In His Wild Native Haunts--The Actual Moment Of

Death,  The Fact Of Killing,  Is His Enjoyment. To A True Sportsman The

Enjoyment Of A Sport Increases In Proportion To The Wildness Of The

Country. Catch A Six-Pound Trout In A Quiet Mill-Pond In A Populous

Part 3 Chapter 1 Pg 8

Manufacturing Neighbourhood,  With Well-Cultivated Meadows On Either Side

Of The Stream,  Fat Cattle Grazing On The Rich Pasturage,  And,  Perhaps,

Actually Watching You As You Land Your Fish: It May Be Sport. But Catch

A Similar Fish Far From The Haunts Of Men,  In A Boiling Rocky Torrent

Surrounded By Heathery Mountains,  Where The Shadow Of A Rod Has Seldom

Been Reflected In The Stream,  And You Cease To Think The Former Fish

Worth Catching; Still He Is The Same Size,  Showed The Same Courage,  Had

The Same Perfection Of Condition,  And Yet You Cannot Allow That It Was

Sport Compared With This Wild Stream. If You See No Difference In The

Excitement,  You Are Not A Sportsman; You Would As Soon Catch Him In A

Washing Tub,  And You Should Buy Your Fish When You Require Him; But

Never Use A Rod,  Or You Would Disgrace The Hickory.

 

This Feeling Of A Combination Of Wild Country With The Presence Of The

Game Itself,  To Form A Real Sport,  Is Most Keenly Manifested When We

Turn Our Attention To The Rifle. This Noble Weapon Is Thrown Away In An

Enclosed Country. The Smooth-Bore May And Does Afford Delightful Sport

Upon Our Cultivated Fields; But Even That Pleasure Is Doubled When Those

Enclosures No Longer Intervene,  And The Wide-Spreading Moors And

Morasses Of Scotland Give An Idea Of Freedom And Undisturbed Nature. Who

Can Compare Grouse With Partridge Shooting? Still The Difference Exists,

Not So Much In The Character Of The Bird As In The Features Of The

Country. It Is The Wild Aspect Of The Heathery Moor Without A Bound,

Except The Rugged Outline Of The Mountains Upon The Sky,  That Gives Such

A Charm To The Grouse-Shooting In Scotland,  And Renders The

Deer-Stalking Such A Favourite Sport Among The Happy Few Who Can Enjoy

It.

 

All This Proves That The Simple Act Of Killing Is Not Sport; If It Were,

The Zoological Gardens Would Form As Fine A Field To An Elephant Shot As

The Wildest Indian Jungle.

 

Man Is A Bloodthirsty Animal,  A Beast Of Prey,  Instinctively; But Let Us

Hope That A True Sportsman Is Not Savage,  Delighting In Nothing But

Death,  But That His Pursuits Are Qualified By A Love Of Nature,  Of Noble

Scenery,  Of All The Wonderful Productions Which The Earth Gives Forth In

Different Latitudes. He Should Thoroughly Understand The Nature And

Habits Of Every Beast Or Bird That He Looks Upon As Game. This Last

Attribute Is Indispensable; Without It He May Kill,  But He Is Not A

Sportsman.

 

We Have,  Therefore,  Come To The Conclusion That The Character Of A

Country Influences The Character Of The Sport. The First Question,

Therefore,  That An Experienced Man Would Ask At The Recital Of A

Sporting Anecdote Would Be,  `What Kind Of Country Is It?' That Being

Clearly Described To Him,  He Follows You Through Every