After riding about four miles, our path lay through a dense forest up the steep side of a hill.Over this was a narrow road, most difficult for a horse to ascend, on account of the large masses of rocks, which choked the path from the base to the summit.Leaving the horse-keepers with the horses to scramble up as they best could, we took our guns and went on in advance.We had nearly reached the summit of this pass, when we came suddenly upon some fragments of chewed leaves and branches, lying in the middle of the path.The saliva was still warm upon them, and the dung of an elephant lay in the road in a state which proved his close vicinity.There were no tracks, of course, as the path was nothing but a line of piled rocks, from which the forest had been lately cleared, and the elephants had just been disturbed by the clattering of the horses' hoofs in ascending the rugged pass.
Banda had run on in front about fifty yards before us, but we had no sooner arrived on the summit of the hill, than we saw him returning at a flying pace towards us, with an elephant chasing him in full speed.
It was an exciting scene while it lasted: with the activity of a deer, he sprang from rock to rock, while we of course ran to his assistance, and arrived close to the elephant just as Banda had reached a high block of stone, which furnished him an asylum.A shot from Palliser brought the elephant upon his knees, but, immediately recovering himself, he ran round a large rock.I ran round the other side, and killed him dead within four paces.
Upon descending the opposite side of the pass, we arrived in flat country, and on the left of the road we saw another elephant, a 'rogue', in high lemon grass.We tried to get a shot at him, but it was of no use; the grass was so high and thick, that after trying several experiments, we declined following him in such ground.We arrived at Nielgalla in the evening without farther sport: here we killed a few couple of snipe in the paddy-fields, which added to our dinner.
Dec.10.--Having beaten several miles of country without seeing any signs of elephants, we came unexpectedly upon a herd of wild buffaloes;they were standing in beautiful open ground, interspersed with trees, about a hundred and ten paces from us.I gave Palliser my heavy rifle, as he was very anxious to get a pair of good horns, and with the pleasure of a spectator I watched the sport.He made a good shot with the four-ounce, and dropped the foremost buffalo; the herd galloped off but he broke the hind leg of another buffalo with one of the No.10rifles, and, after a chase of a couple of hundred yards, he came up with the wounded beast, who could not extricate himself from a deep gully of water, as he could not ascend the steep bank on three legs.A few more shots settled him.
We gave up all ideas of elephants for this day after so much firing;but, curious enough, just as we were mounting our horses, we heard the roar of an elephant in a jungle on the hillside about half a mile distant.There was no mistaking the sound, and we were soon at the spot.
This jungle was very extensive, and the rocky bed of a mountain-torrent divided it into two portions; on the right hand was fine open forest, and on the left thorny chenar.The elephants were in the open forest, close to the edge of the torrent.
The herd winded us just as we were approaching up the steep ascent of the rocky stream, and they made a rush across the bed of the torrent to gain the thick jungle on the opposite bank.Banda immediately beckoned to me to come into the jungle with the intention of meeting the elephants as they entered, while Palliser was to command the narrow passage, in which there was only space for one person to shoot, without confusion.
In the mean time, Palliser knocked over three elephants as they crossed the stream, while we, on reaching the thick jungle, found it so dense that we could see nothing.Just as we were thinking of returning again to the spot that we had left, we heard a tremendous rush in the bush, coming straight towards us.In another instant I saw a mass of twisted and matted thorns crashing in a heap upon me.I had barely time to jump on one side, as the elephant nearly grazed me, and I fired both barrels into the tangled mass that he bore upon his head.I then bolted, and took up a good position at a few yards' distance.The shots in the head had so completely stunned the elephant that she could not move.She now stood in a piece of jungle so dense that we could not see her, and Palliser creeping up to her, while we stood ready to back him, fired three shots without the least effect.She did not even move, being senseless with the wound.One of my men then gave him my four-ounce rifle.A loud report from the old gun sounded the elephant's knell, and closed the sport for that trip.
We returned to Nielgalla, the whole of that day's bag belonging to Palliser--four elephants and two buffaloes.We packed up our traps, and early the next morning we started direct for Newera Ellia, having in three weeks from the day of our departure from Kandy bagged fifty elephants, five deer, and two buffaloes; of which, Wortley had killed to his bag, ten elephants and two deer; Palliser sixteen elephants and two buffaloes; V.Baker, up to the time of his leaving us, two elephants.
