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

To Protect Us From The Dew,  And,  With Our Saddles For Pillows,  We

All Lay Down Together And Slept Soundly Till Morning.

 

Nov. 28.--We Woke Hungry,  And Accordingly Tightened Our Belts By Two Or

Three Holes. V. Baker Had To Be In Kandy By The Evening Of The 30th,  And

He Was Now Determined To Push On. His Pony Had Thrown All His Shoes,  And

Had Eaten Nothing But Grass For Many Days.

 

I Knew Our Position Well,  As I Had Been Lost Near This Spot About Two

Years Ago. We Were Fifty-Three Miles From Badulla. Nevertheless,  V. B.

Started Off,  And Arrived In Badulla That Evening. On The Same Pony He

Pushed On To Newera Ellia,  Thirty-Six Miles,  The Next Day; And Then

Taking A Fresh Horse,  He Rode Into Kandy,  Forty-Seven Miles,  Arriving In

Good Time On The Evening Of The 30th November.

 

Having Parted With V. B.,  We Saddled And Mounted,  And,  Following Our

Guide Through A Forest-Path,  We Arrived At Curhellulai After A Ride Of

Four Miles. Nothing Could Exceed The Wretchedness Of This Place,  From

Which We Had Been Led To Expect So Much. We Could Not Even Procure A

Grain Of Rice From The Few Small Huts Which Composed The Village. The

Headman,  Who Himself Looked Half-Starved,  Made Some Cakes Of Korrakan;

But As They Appeared To Be Composed Of Two Parts Of Sand,  One Of Dirt

And One Of Grain,  I Preferred A Prolonged Abstinence To Such Filth. The

Abject Poverty Of The Whole Of This Country Is Beyond Description.

 

Our Coolies Arrived At Eight A.M.,  Faint And Tired; They No Longer

Turned Up Their Noses At Korrakan,  As They Did At Monampitya,  But They

Filled Themselves Almost To Bursting.

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 108

 

I Started Off V. B.'S Coolies After Him,  Also Eight Men Whose Loads Had

Been Consumed,  And,  With A Diminished Party,  We Started For Bibille,

Which The Natives Assured Us Was Only Nineteen Miles From This Spot. For

Once They Were About Correct In Their Ideas Of Distance. The Beautiful

'Park' Country Commenced About Four Miles From Curhellulai,  And,  After A

Lovely Ride Through This Scenery For Sixteen Miles,  We Arrived At The

Luxurious And Pretty Village Of Bibille,  Which Had So Often Been My

Quarters.

 

We Had Ridden A Hundred And Forty Miles From Minneria,  Through A Country

Abounding With Game Of All Kinds,  Sixty Miles Of Which Had Never Been

Shot Over,  And Yet The Whole Bag In This Lovely Country Consisted Of

Only Three Elephants. So Much For Hurrying Through Our Ground. If We Had

Remained For A Week At The Foot Of The Gunner's Coin We Could Have

Obtained Supplies Of All Kinds From Doolana,  And We Should Have Enjoyed

Excellent Sport Through The Whole Country. Our Total Bag Was Now

Wretchedly Small,  Considering The Quantity Of Ground That We Had Passed

Over. We Had Killed Nine Elephants And Two Deer. V. Baker Had A

Miserable Time Of It,  Having Only Killed Two Elephants When He Was

Obliged To Return. The Trip Might,  In Fact,  Be Said To Commence From

Bibille.

 

This Is A Very Pretty,  Civilized Village,  In The Midst Of A Wild

Country. It Is The Residence Of A Rhatamahatmeya,  And He And His Family

Were Well Known To Me. They Were Perfectly Astonished When They Heard By

Which Route We Had Arrived,  And Upon Hearing Of Our Forty-Eight Hours Of

Fasting,  They Lost No Time In Preparing Dinner. We Were Now In A Land Of

Plenty,  And We Shortly Fell To At A Glorious Dinner Of Fowls In Various

Shapes,  Curries,  Good Coffee,  Rice Cakes. Plantains,  And Sweet Potatoes.

After Our Recent Abstinence And Poor Fare,  It Seemed A Perfect Banquet.

Nov. 29.--The Coolies Did Not Arrive Till Early This Morning; They Were

Soon Hard At Work At Curry And Rice,  And,  After A Few Hours Of Rest,  We

Packed Up And Started For A Spot In The 'Park' (Upon Which I Had Often

Encamped) About Ten Miles From Bibille.

 

The Horses Had Enjoyed Their Paddy As Much As We Had Relished Our Change

Of Diet,  And The Coolies Were Perfectly Refreshed. I Sent Orders To

Kotoboya (About Twenty Miles From Bibille) For Several Bullock-Loads Of

Paddy And Rice To Meet Us At An Appointed Spot,  And With A Good Supply

Of Fowls And Rice,  &C.,  For The Present,  We Arrived At Our Place Of

Encampment At Three P.M.,  After A Delightful Ride.

 

The Grass Was Beautifully Green; A Few Large Trees Shaded The Tents,

Which Were Pitched Near A Stream,  And The Undulations Of The Ground,

Interspersed With Clumps Of Trees And Ornamented By Rocky Mountains,

Formed A Most Lovely Scene. We Sent A Messenger To Nielgalla For Banda,

And Another To Dimbooldene For Old Medima And The Trackers,  With Orders

To Meet Us At Our Present Encampment. We Then Took Our Rifles And

Strolled Out To Get A Deer. We Shortly Found A Herd,  And Wortley Got A

Shot At About Sixty Yards,  And Killed A Doe. We Could Have Killed Other

Deer Shortly Afterwards,  But We Did Not Wish To Disturb The Country By

Firing Unnecessary Shots,  As We Had Observed Fresh Tracks Of Elephants.

 

We Carried The Deer To The Tent,  And Rejoiced Our Coolies With The Sight

Of Venison; The Doe Was Soon Divided Among Them,  One Haunch Only Being

Reserved For Our Own Use.

 

Nov. 30.--This,  Being Sunday,  Was A Day Of Rest For Man And Beast After

Our Recent Wanderings,  And We Patiently Awaited The Arrival Of Banda And

The Trackers. The Guns Were All In Beautiful Order,  And Stood Arranged

Against A Temporary Rack,  In Readiness For The Anticipated Sport On The

Following Day.

 

Banda And The Trackers Arrived In The Afternoon. His Accounts Were Very

Favourable As To The Number Of Elephants,  And We Soon Laid Down A Plan

For Beating The 'Park' In A Systematic Manner.

 

Upon This Arrangement The Duration Of Sport In This Country Materially

Depends. If The Shooting Is Conducted Thoughtlessly Here And There,

Without Reference To The Localities,  The Whole 'Park' Becomes Alarmed At

Once,  And The Elephants Quit The Open Country And Retire To The Dense

Chenar Jungles.

 

I Proposed That We Should Commence Shooting At Our Present Encampment,

Then Beat Towards The Cave,  Shoot Over That Country Towards Pattapalaar,

From Thence To Cross The River And Make A Circuit Of The Whole Of That

Portion Of The 'Park,' And Finish Off In The Environs Of Nielgalla.

 

Banda Approved Of This Plan,  As We Should Then Be Driving The Borders Of

The `Park,' Instead Of Commencing In The Centre.

 

Dec. 1.--The Scouts Were Sent Out At Daybreak. At Two O'clock P.M. They

Returned: They Had Found Elephants,  But They Were Four Miles From The

Tent,  And Two Men Had Been Left To Watch Them.

 

Upon Questioning Them As To Their Position,  We Discovered That They Were

In Total Ignorance Of The Number In The Herd,  As They Had Merely Heard

Them Roaring In The Distance. They Could Not Approach Nearer,  As A

Notoriously Vicious Rogue Elephant Was Consorting With The Herd. This

Elephant Was Well Known To The Natives From A Peculiarity In Having Only

One Tusk,  Which Was About Eighteen Inches Long.

 

In November And December Elephant-Shooting Requires More Than Ordinary

Caution At The 'Park,' As The Rogue Elephants,  Who Are Always Bulls,  Are

In The Habit Of Attending Upon The Herds. The Danger Lies In Their

Cunning. They Are Seldom Seen In The Herd Itself,  But They Are Generally

Within A Few Hundred Paces; And Just As The Guns May Have Been

Discharged At The Herd,  The Rogue Will,  Perhaps,  Appear In Full Charge

From His Ambush. This Is Exquisitely Dangerous,  And Is The Manner In

Which I Was Caught Near This Spot In 1850.

 

Banda Was Very Anxious That This Rogue Should Be Killed Before We

Attacked The Herd,  And He Begged Me To Give Him A Shoulder-Shot With The

Part 3 Chapter 12 (A Jungle Trip) Pg 109

Four-Ounce Rifle,  While Wortley And Palliser Were To Fire At His Head! A

Shot Through The Shoulder With The Heavy Rifle Would Be Certain Death,

Although He Might Not Drop Immediately; But The Object Of The Natives

Was Simply To Get Him Killed,  On Account Of His Mischievous Habits.

 

We Therefore Agreed To Make Our First Attack Upon The Rogue: If We

Should Kill Him On The Spot,  So Much The Better; If Not,  We Knew That A

Four-Ounce Ball Through His Lungs Would Kill Him Eventually,  And,  At All

Events,  He Would Not Be In A Humour To Interrupt Our Pursuit Of The

Herd,  Which We Were To Push For The Moment We Had Put The Rogue Out Of

The Way.

 

These Arrangements Being Made,  We Started. After A Ride Of About Four

Miles Through Beautiful Country,  We Saw A Man In The Distance,  Who Was

Beckoning To Us. This Was One Of The Watchers,  Who Pointed To A Jungle

Into Which The Elephant Had That Moment Entered. From The Extreme

Caution Of The Trackers,  I Could See That This Rogue Was Worthy Of His

Name.

 

The Jungle Into Which He Had Entered Was A Long But Narrow Belt,  About A

Hundred Yards In Width; It Was Tolerably Good,  But Still It Was So Close

That We Could Not See More Than Six Paces In Advance. I Fully Expected

That He Was Lying In Wait For Us,  And Would Charge When Least Expected.

We Therefore Cautiously Entered The Jungle,  And,  Sending Banda On In

Advance,  With Instructions To Retreat Upon The Guns If Charged,  We

Followed Him At About Twenty Paces Distance.

 

Banda Immediately Untied His Long Hair,  Which Fell To His Hips,  And

Divesting Himself Of All Clothing Except A Cloth Round His Loins,  He

Crept On In Advance As Stealthily As A Cat. So Noiselessly Did He Move

That We Presently Saw Him Gliding Back To Us Without A Sound. He

Whispered That He Had Found The Elephant,  Who Was Standing On The

Patina,  A Few Yards Beyond The Jungle. We Immediately Advanced,  And Upon

Emerging From The Jungle We Saw Him Within Thirty Paces On Our Right,

Standing With His Broadside Exposed. Crack Went The Four-Ounce Through

His Shoulder,  And The Three-Ounce And No. 8,  With A Similar Good

Intention,  Into His Head. Nevertheless He Did Not Fall,  But Started Off

At A Great Pace,  Though Stumbling Nearly On His Knees,  His Head And Tail

Both Hanging Down,  His Trunk Hanging Listlessly Upon The Ground; And His

Ears,  Instead Of Being Cocked,  Were Pressed Tightly Back Against His

Neck. He Did Not Look Much Like A Rogue At That Moment,  With Upwards Of

Half A Pound Of Lead In His Carcass. Still We Could Not Get Another Shot

At Him Before He Reached A Jungle About Seventy Paces Distant; And Here

We Stopped To Load Before We Followed Him,  Thinking That He Was In Dense

Chenar. This Was A Great Mistake,  For,  On Following Him A Minute Later,

We Found The Jungle Was Perfectly Open,  Being Merely A Fringe Of Forest

On The Banks Of A Broad River; In Crossing This We Must Have Killed Him

Had We Not Stopped To Load.

 

On The Sandy Bed Of This River We Found The Fresh Tracks Of Several

Elephants,  Who Had Evidently,  Only Just Retreated,  Being Disturbed By

The Shots Fired; These Were A Portion Of The Herd; And