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

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 97

On November 16,  1851 I Started From Kandy,  Accompanied By My Brother,

Lieutenant V. Baker,* (*Now Colonel Valentine Baler,  Late 10th Hussars.)

Then Of The Ceylon Rifle Regiment. Having Sent On Our Horses From Newera

Ellia Some Days Previous,  As Far As Matille,  Sixteen Miles From Kandy,

We Drove There Early In The Morning,  And Breakfasted With F. Layard,

Esq.,  Who Was Then Assistant Government Agent. It Had Rained Without

Ceasing During Twenty-Four Hours,  And Hoping That The Weather Might

Change,  We Waited At Matille Till Two O'clock P.M. The Rain Still Poured

In Torrents,  And Giving Up All Ideas Of Fine Weather,  We Started.

 

The Horses Were Brought Round,  And Old Jack Knew As Well As I Did That

He Was Starting For A Trip,  As The Tether Rope Was Wound Round His Neck,

And The Horse-Cloth Was Under His Saddle. The Old Horse Was Sleek And In

Fine Condition For A Journey,  And,  Without Further Loss Of Time,  We

Started For Dambool,  A Distance Of Thirty-One Miles. Not Wishing To Be

Benighted,  We Cantered The Whole Way,  And Completed The Distance In

Three Hours And A Half,  As We Arrived At Dambool At Half-Past Five P.M.

 

I Had Started Off Wallace And All The Coolies From Newera Ellia About A

Week Beforehand; And,  Having Instructed Him To Leave A Small Box With A

Change Of Clothes At The Dambool Rest-House,  I Now Felt The Benefit Of

The Arrangement. The Horsekeepers Could Not Possibly Arrive That Night.

We Therefore Cleaned And Fed Our Own Horses,  And Littered Them Down With

A Good Bed Of Paddy Straw; And,  That Being Completed,  We Turned Our

Attention To Curry And Rice.

 

The Next Morning At Break Of Day We Fed The Horses. Old Jack Was As

Fresh As A Daisy. The Morning Was Delightfully Cloudy,  But Free From

Rain; And We Cantered On To Innamalow,  Five Miles From Dambool. Here We

Procured A Guide To Minneria; And Turning Off From The Main Road Into A

Narrow Jungle Path,  We Rode For Twenty Miles Through Dense Jungle.

Passing The Rock Of Sigiri,  Which Was Formerly Used As A Fort By The

Ancient Inhabitants Of The Country,  We Gradually Entered Better Jungle,

And At Length We Emerged Upon The Beautiful Plains Of Minneria. I Had

Ordered Wallace To Pitch The Encampment In The Exact Spot Which I Had

Frequently Occupied Some Years Ago. I Therefore Knew The Rendezvous,  And

Directed My Course Accordingly.

 

What A Change Had Taken Place! A Continuous Drought Had Reduced The Lake

From Its Original Size Of Twenty-Two Miles In Circumference To A Mere

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 98

Pool Of About Four Miles In Circuit; This Was All That Remained Of The

Noble Sheet Of Water Around Which I Had Formerly Enjoyed So Much Sport.

From The Rich Bed Of The Dry Lake Sprang A Fine Silky Grass Of About Two

Feet In Height,  Forming A Level Plain Of Velvet Green Far As The Eye

Could Reach. The Turf Was Firm And Elastic; The Four O'clock Sun Had

Laid Aside The Fiercest Of His Rays,  And Threw A Gentle Glow Over The

Scene,  Which Reminded Me Of An English Midsummer Evening. There Is So

Little Ground In Ceylon Upon Which A Horse Can Gallop Without The Risks

Of Holes,  Bogs,  And Rocks That We Could Not Resist A Canter Upon Such

Fine Turf; And Although The Horses Had Made A Long Journey Already,  They

Seemed To Enjoy A More Rapid Pace When They Felt The Inviting Sward

Beneath Their Feet. Although Every Inch Of This Country Had Been

Familiar To Me,  I Felt Some Difficulty In Finding The Way To The

Appointed Spot,  The Scene Was So Changed By The Disappearance Of The

Water.

 

There Were Fresh Elephants' Tracks In Many Parts Of The Plain,  And I Was

Just Anticipating Good Sport For The Next Day,  When We Suddenly Heard An

Elephant Trumpet In The Open Forest,  Which We Were Skirting. The Next

Instant I Saw Eight Elephants Among The Large Trees Which Bordered The

Forest. For The Moment I Thought It Was A Herd,  But I Almost Immediately

Noticed The Constrained And Unnatural Positions In Which They Were

Standing. They Were All Tied To Different Trees By The Legs,  And Upon

Approaching The Spot,  We Found An Encampment Of Arabs And Moormen Who

Had Been Noosing Elephants For Sale. We At Once Saw That The Country Was

Disturbed,  As These People Had Been Employed In Catching Elephants For

Some Weeks.

 

After A Ride Of Seven Or Eight Miles Along The Plain,  I Discovered A

Thin Blue Line Of Smoke Rising From The Edge Of A Distant Forest,  And

Shortly After,  I Could Distinguish Forms Moving On The Plain In The Same

Direction. Cantering Towards The Spot,  We Found Our Coolies And

Encampment. The Tents Were Pitched Under Some Noble Trees,  Which

Effectually Excluded Every Ray Of Sun. It Was The Exact Spot Upon Which

I Had Been Accustomed To Encamp Some Years Ago. The Servants Had

Received Orders When They Started From Kandy,  To Have Dinner Prepared At

Five O'clock On The 17th Of November; It Was Accordingly Ready On Our

Arrival.

 

Minneria Was The Appointed Rendezvous From Which This Trip Was To

Commence. Our Party Was To Consist Of The Honourable E. Stuart Wortley,*

(* The Present Lord Wharncliffe.)E. Palliser,  Esq.,  Lieutenant V. Baker,

S.W. Baker. My Brother Had Unfortunately Only Fourteen Days' Leave From

His Regiment,  And He And I Had Accordingly Hurried On A Day In Advance

Of Our Party,  They Having Still Some Preparations To Complete In Kandy,

And Not Being Quite So Well Horsed For A Quick Journey.

 

Nothing Could Be More Comfortable Than Our Arrangements. Our Followers

And Establishment Consisted Of Four Personal Servants,  An Excellent

Cook,  Four Horse-Keepers,  Fifty Coolies,  And Wallace; In All,  Sixty

People. The Coolies Were All Picked Men,  Who Gave Not The Slightest

Trouble During The Whole Trip. We Had Two Tents,  One Of Which Contained

Four Beds And A General Dressing-Table; The Other,  Which Was My

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 99

Umbrella-Shaped Tent,  Was Arranged As The Diningroom,  With Table And

Chairs. With Complete Dinner And Breakfast Services For Four Persons,

And Abundance Of Table Linen,  We Had Everything That Could Be Wished

For. Although I Can Rough It If Necessary,  I Do Not Pretend To Prefer

Discomfort From Choice. A Little Method And A Trifling Extra Cost Will

Make The Jungle Trip Anything But Uncomfortable. There Was Nothing

Wanting In Our Supplies. We Had Sherry,  Madeira,  Brandy And Curacoa,

Biscuits,  Tea,  Sugar,  Coffee,  Hams,  Tongues,  Sauces,  Pickles,  Mustard,

Sardines En Huile,  Tins Of Soups And Preserved Meats And Vegetables,

Currant Jelly For Venison,  Maccaroni,  Vermicelli,  Flour,  And A Variety

Of Other Things That Add To The Comfort Of The Jungle,  Including Last,

But Not Least,  A Double Supply Of Soap And Candles. No One Knows The

Misery Should Either Of These Fail--Dirt And Darkness Is The Necessary

Consequence.

 

There Was A Large Stock Of Talipots* (*Large Leaves From The Talipot

Tree.) To Form Tents For The People And Coverings For The Horses In Case

Of Rain; In Fact,  There Never Was A Trip More Happily Planned Or More

Comfortably Arranged,  And There Was Certainly Never Such A Battery

Assembled In Ceylon As We Now Mustered. Such Guns Deserve To Be

Chronicled :--

 

Wortley .   . 1 Single Barrel Rifle .   3-Ounce

    "   .   . 1 Double "    Rifle   .   No. 12.

    "   .   . 2 Double "    Guns    .   No. 12.

Palliser .  . 1 Single "    Rifle   .   No. 8 (My Old 2-Ounce)

    "    .  . 1 Double "    Rifle   .   No. 12.

    "    .  . 2 Double "    Guns    .   No. 12.

V. Baker    . 3 Double "    "   .   No. 14.

    "   .   . 1 Double "    "   .   No. 12.

    "   .   . 1 Single "    Rifle   .   No. 14.

S. W. Baker . 1 Single "    Rifle   .   4-Ounce.

    "   .   . 3 Double "    Rifles  No. 10.

    "   .   . 1 Double "    Gun .   No. 16.

             18 Guns.

 

These Guns Were All By The First Makers,  And We Took Possession Of Our

Hunting Country With The Confidence Of A Good Bag,  Provided That Game

Was Abundant.

 

But How Changed Was This Country Since I Had Visited It In Former Years,

Not Only In Appearance But In The Quantity Of Game!

 

On These Plains,  Where In Times Past I Had So Often Counted Immense

Herds Of Wild Buffaloes,  Not One Was Now To Be Seen. The Deer Were

Scared And In Small Herds,  Not Exceeding Seven Or Ten,  Proving How They

Had Been Thinned Out By Shooting. In Fact,  Minneria Had Become Within

The Last Four Years A Focus For Most Sportsmen,  And The Consequence Was,

That The Country Was Spoiled; Not By The Individual Shooting Of

Visitors,  But By The Stupid Practice Of Giving The Natives Large

Quantities Of Powder And Ball As A Present At The Conclusion Of A Trip.

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 100

They,  Of Course,  Being Thus Supplied With Ammunition,  Shot The Deer And

Buffaloes Without Intermission,  And Drove Them From The Country By

Incessant Harassing.

 

I Saw Immediately That We Could Not Expect Much Sport In This Disturbed

Part Of The Country,  And We Determined To Waste No More Time In This

Spot Than Would Be Necessary In Procuring The Elephant Trackers From

Doolana. We Planned Our Campaign That Evening At Dinner.

 

Nov. 18.--At Daybreak I Started Wallace Off To Doolana To Bring My Old

Acquaintance The Rhatamahatmeya And The Moormen Trackers. I Felt

Confident That I Could Prevail Upon Him To Accompany Us To The Limits Of

His District; This Was All-Important To Our Chance Of Sport,  As Without

Him We Could Procure No Assistance From The Natives.

 

After Breakfast We Mounted Our Horses And Rode To Cowdelle,  Eight Miles,

As I Expected To Find Elephants In This Open But Secluded Part Of The

Country. There Were Very Fresh