The record-union., 1893-07-01


barbets. We. stay down here, in this de-
hghtiully cool spot, for fully an hour,
and then go up to breakfast, Tor it is now
O'Clock. Breakfast over we send for
old "Bohomo hodi," "L.is'' pet track er,
and, lying down on our camp beds, en-
JOY siesta, thing generally done
throughout the tropics during the mid
die of the day.
''Alahatmayia! Mahatmayiar' and
start up to see a weaZened, shrunken old
creature saIaaming me. This old wan
deroo, this skin and bone, is the wonder
luI old man whose tracking "L.' is never
tired OF lauding to the skies. This is
the old man l have heard so much of,
is it?
Why, he must be an antediluvian! l
put hlm down as a useless old fossil at
once, and feel that, if left III that old
mans hands, the whole trip is doomed to
failure.
What a gross injustice I was doing this
most extraordinary old chap remains to
be seen.
The old man "Bohomo hondi" says he
IS not quite sure where the herd is-that
there is any herd at all, in fact. He has
not seen II himself His boys have given
hlm the Information which, from time to
time, ne has forwarded to "L.'
And boys are boys, and l never rely
on nIne," mumbles the old wretch.
Well, here is a pretty mess! l thought
we had herd waiting TO be shot, and the
whole thing is an invention of this ''Ya a
koos." am in an awful rage. L." is
what may be called mad, and the old
chap gets some choice language let loose
on him. He simply sits down on the
edge OF the veranda, and chews his betel
with the greatest unconcarn. Perhaps he
didn't understand our Cinghalese?
We drank brandy and soda thirstily
and fHnnuhrfl1lly- fToa iS ba u "
after tomorrow, so what has TO be done
must be done tomorrow, which leaves
me day to get back in.
Isn't there solitary about any
where, Bohomo hondi?" asks IL" "Ho!
enava, ratteri eel AVA ("Yes, yes, there
was one came last night.")
50 there was solitary. or rogue ele-
phant, close to the old mans village, it
seemed, and it had been out last night
damaging their crops; but the Old fossil
hadn't thought of mentioning this, think
ing we were bent on going after a herd,
when we should probably have shot sew
eral elephants.
Now, a solitary" is always a vicious
old elephant, having been driven out OF
the herd by his fellows, who can stand
MS arrogance no longer, and no other
herd viii let him join them. He is an
outcast and very wary, and therefore
much more difficult to shoot-iu the ma
jority of cases very dangerous, as he
naunts the neighborhood of villages,
breaking down plantains. cocoanuts and
doing no end OF damage generally. and
soon nnds out what terror he is, and be-
gins TO chase the people, seeing how
afraid they are Of him. A sportsman
naturally prefers shooting him to any
other except tuskerl, but IL" had not
considered it safe Tor me to begin my
first low-country trip with solitary" :"
herd being SO much easier to manage,
and so much more timid than an old
rogue. This rogue was well-known
bad character, and a." had several
times been after him before, but without
success. The arrangement was that Bo-
homo hOndi should come, first thing in
the morning, at O'clock, and, taking up
the rogue's track, we would follow it up.
and having thus settled matters we sent
the old chap oil to his village close by.
Now began an animated discussion be-
tween L." and me as to first shot"
why, l understood 1 was to get first
shot," 1 said.
Yes, but not at this rogue, which is an
old elephant OF mine. At the herd you
were, but this is quite different"
NO, it isn't; 1 don't see how it is your
elephant because you let him go once.
Besides, you promised me first shot"
Il withdraw that promise" And so
Oh. L lIdlly we SIG6u 70 IOSS uD, much
to LIS" annoyance, think. There is no
one so jealous over these matters as your
''old shot"
The rule is to toss for first shot: but
when an old hand takes a tyro up to his
first elephant, OF course the tyro gets the
shot. Yet here was L." just as Jealous
over this solitary as ii he himself was a
tyro. lie had shot seventy elephants.
lie did not at all like my insisting on
tossing, as it gave him chance Of losing,
which he didn't he actually won.
l thought the least he could do would
be to give his chance to me; but no, he
stuck to it with that persistence peculiar
to sportsmen. The fact was that this was
a remarkably fine elephant, said to be
fully nine feet high-a very big elephant
for CeyIon-and Il" actually considered
it as his elephant, having been after him
once or twice before.
Having settled everything, we got our
rifles out. Mine were 81 express bv
Holland * Holland and 500 express by
Reilly, and, seeing everything in order.
we strolled over to the tank.
The whole place was alive with fowl
4 glorious sight, thousands upon thou-
sands, from tiny little grebes to huge
tlamingoes; and the tank was covered
with lotus in full flower. l do not think
l have ever seen anything prettier than
the Iiloola tank was that evening. the
sun shining over the tree tops, which
cast their shadows over the water. The
trees were alive with birds-pigeons, bar
bets, parrots, and other birds, too numer-
Gus to name. \ ct not a shot could we
ire for fear of disturbing the rogue which
we hoped was somewhere close by-at
any rate the chances were that he was in
hearing distance of gun shot.
No, not shot could we fire, and the
tank swarming with teal, too. Wasn't 1t
too bad?
Swash what's that? Why, look there
rise with one accord. The air is
alive with them; as this awful looking
creature slowly glides along under the
bank. What tine crock he is, too :
Quite sixteen feet, l should say. Yet we
couldn't fire shot.
The brute crept half out of the water
and lay basking in the sitting sun, and
we couldn't hre at him. Wasn't it
aggravating? well, l shouldn't much
like to retrieve shot teal out of the
tank" said Il, /" ''or send a coolie in to
do so, with that fellow about" "Why.
the tank is alive with them Look there I
There are two more! And look over
yonder What is that moving along so
slowly, like floating log?" But we
know there is no current to move anv-
thing. What an enormous beast that is :
1t was aggravating not to be able to rid
the world Of some of these huge saurians.
indescribably loathsome, useless, and
certainly not ornamental. Evening is
closing in, however, and here there is no
twilight. At six O'clock, when the sun
goes down, it becomes totally dark. So
we give a loud coO-ee, and with a mighty
splash the crooks disappear, as though by
magic, and the air once more becomes
alive with birds, and the whole place re-
sounds with their clamorOus cries.
Vending our way back, we find dinner
Is almost ready. So We change into our
pyjamahs for comfort and ease without
dignity. OttuBt SINE digaitdte is the Cev-
ion sportsman's motto and, unlike many.
ne antIallN rnractices ,rEat h a-a-..l--i