Los Angeles herald., 1906-11-18
1conrrirht br Iames ElversOnl


RSAk name, and within three OF the Pea
EnGNSDI cock Mountain, are large belts OF
49, Jungle running up ravines and be-
tween patnas, or cultivated grounds, near the
Ganga River.
The scenery in this part of the island OF
Ceylon is peculiarly wild, an especial feature
of what is termed up-country, or land lying
some 2500 or 1000 feet above the sea level.
Most exciting it is to find your way through
interminable forests, amid uninterrupted 81
ience, gun in hand, on the lookout for game
of any kind, from small birds to elephants.
So one Saturday, about 3 o'clock, l filled
some pockets with cartridges, stuck revol.
yer in my belt, and gun in hand, started OIL
without my usual companions. two deer
hounds, as 1 wished to enjoy the scene en-
tirely alone. 1 struck down small path
leading from my bungalow, which knew
would take me eventually to the river 1t
was rather circuitous and wonderfully pretty.
Some two miles walk brought me to, a
Singalese village, where, on inquiring Tor the
shortest road to the river, they pointed out
the way, but warned me that chetah (ol
Jeopardy had carried off kid as well as
fowls from the neighborhood only the night
before.
1 did not pay much attention to their talk,
so intent was | upon reaching the river, ex-
ploring the wild country and shooting some
and of the most indescribably vivid colors.
The direction the villagers pointed out was
a sort of track, leading through tropical foil
age such as [ had never before seen.
Why they called it path at all l cannot
say, except that some few natives had gone
through it some time or other.
The Singalese always travel in Indian Tile
Zone behind another in long line), and the
fact of ten or twelve of them walking, or
rather wading, through huge twining creep.
ers and grass some eight feet high would
constitute what they term path.
Here were denizens of the forest, immense
banyan trees, some twenty feet in girth, and
all of whose branches had long pendants
taking fresh root in the ground, sending out
new shoots, coeoanut palms, mango trees
plaintains in the most romantic confusion
and Ceylon vines hanging down like ropes
from the top branches of the very highest
trees.
The underground was composed of huge
ferns, thorns, ground creepers, cutch grass
carpet-like moss, dead leaves and dry sticks
among all of which snakes and leeches are
most unpleasantly common.
While threading my way through, under
and over perfect network of foliage,
dropped my gun, and no one who has moi
seen tropical jungle could believe the trou
BILE such an accident may give, for, although
knowing almost to the square yard where to
look, it took me more than twenty minutes
1t was Just after this happened that ]
heard slight rustling near at hand, and
saw indistinctly three buffaloes making off:
Nv double barrel being only smooth-bore
GUN and not a rife, it would have been use
less and dangerous to fire, because these
brutes, if wounded, become very ferocious'
and will face almost anything.
Going on a little further, | now saw the
river for the first time, close below me, foam
inc and roaring over granite boulders and
huge trunks of trees, on Its way to Ram
bodice.
By a succession of jumps got down to
sort of beach, between two rocks, where the
r;uer took curve around from right to left,
so that all the force of the current was
ooa;nst the opposite bank, while on this one
the water was comparatively shallow and
calm. n .-
Gazing ON the mighty stream, when presently
Soolr;no down what should l see at my very
feet hut the unmistakable footprints of a
very big chetah! -,
sl;ght indentations of its claws even, and that
the marks were quite recently made was GER
tain because the water was seen only just
Sar;nnin0 10 ooze through the sand into the
deem impressions the brute had left. / now
thopght Of going on, knowing it would be
~acessarv to skirt the rivers edge for some
,n;Ies before | could reach an open bit OF
natna. ND which to strike.
pasFa, fper % going a little way the river curved
.nd became deep at the edge itself, for the
Sea 5each ended where I then stood.
oeST Nv only mode of proceeding was to step
e,om my stone to stone beneath the overhanging
trees and creepers' -. A. e..
eaiilT9 Oressed on as we'll as l could. After
sUrdgipg SO or rather fighting my way through
tha dense underwood for about nine miles l