第13章

Minneria Lake--Brush with a Bull--An Awkward Vis-a-vis--A Bright Thought--Bull Buffalo Receives his Small Change--What is Man?--Long Shot with the Four-ounce--Charged by a Herd of Buffaloes--the Four-ounce does Service--The 'Lola'--A Woman Killed by a Crocodile--Crocodile at Bolgodde Lake--A Monster Crocodile--Death of a Crocodile.

THE foregoing description may serve as an introduction to the hill sports of Ceylon.One animal, however, yet remains to be described, who surpasses all others in dogged ferocity when once aroused.This is the 'buffalo.'

The haunts of this animal are in the hottest parts of Ceylon.In the neighbourhood of lakes, swamps, and extensive plains, the buffalo exists in large herds; wallowing in the soft mire, and passing two-thirds of his time in the water itself, he may be almost termed amphibious.

He is about the size of a large ox, of immense bone and strength, very active, and his hide is almost free from hair, giving a disgusting appearance to his India-rubber-like skin.He carries his head in a peculiar manner, the horns thrown back, and his nose projecting on a level with his forehead, thus securing himself from a front shot in a fatal part.This renders him a dangerous enemy, as he will receive any number of balls from a small gun in the throat and chest without evincing the least symptom of distress.The shoulder is the acknowledged point to aim at, but from his disposition to face the guns this is a difficult shot to obtain.Should he succeed in catching his antagonist, his fury knows no bounds, and he gores his victim to death, trampling and kneeling upon him till he is satisfied that life is extinct.

This sport would not be very dangerous in the forests, where the buffalo could be easily stalked, and where escape would also be rendered less difficult in case of accident; but as he is generally met with upon the open plains, free from a single tree, he must be killed when once brought to bay, or he will soon exhibit his qualifications for mischief.

There is a degree of uncertainty in their character which much increases the danger of the pursuit.A buffalo may retreat at first sight with every symptom of cowardice, and thus induce a too eager pursuit, when he will suddenly become the assailant.I cannot explain their character better than by describing the, first wild buffaloes that I ever saw.

I had not been long in Ceylon, but having arrived in the island for the sake of its wild sports, I had not been idle, and I had already made a considerable bag of large game.Like most novices, however, I was guilty of one great fault.I despised the game, and gave no heed to the many tales of danger and hair-breadth escapes which attended the pursuit of wild animals.This carelessness on my part arose from my first debut having been extremely lucky; most shots had told well, and the animal had been killed with such apparent ease that I had learnt to place an implicit reliance in the rifle.The real fact was that I was like many others; I had slaughtered a number of animals without understanding their habits, and I was perfectly ignorant of the sport.This is now many years ago, and it was then my first visit to the island.Some places that were good spots for shooting in those days have since that time been much disturbed, and are now no longer attractive to my eyes.

One of these places is Minneria Lake.

I was on a shooting trip accompanied by my brother, whom I will designate as B.We had passed a toilsome day in pushing and dragging our ponies for twenty miles along a narrow path through thick jungle, which half-a-dozen natives in advance were opening before us with bill-hooks.

This had at one time been a good path, but was then overgrown.It is now an acknowledged bridle road.

At 4 P.M., and eighty miles from Kandy, we emerged from the jungle, and the view of Minneria Lake burst upon us, fully repaying us for our day's march.It was a lovely afternoon.The waters of the lake; which is twenty miles in circumference, were burnished by the setting sun.The surrounding plains were as green as an English meadow, and beautiful forest trees bordered the extreme boundaries of the plains like giant warders of the adjoining jungle.Long promontories densely wooded stretched far into the waters of the lake, forming sheltered nooks and bays teeming with wild fowl.The deer browsed in herds on the wide extent of plain, or lay beneath the shade of the spreading branches.

Every feature of lovely scenery was here presented.In some spots groves of trees grew to the very water's edge; in others the wide plains, free from a single stem or bush, stretched for miles along the edge of the lake; thickly wooded hills bordered the extreme end of its waters, and distant blue mountains mingled their dim summits with the clouds.

It was a lovely scene which we enjoyed in silence, while our ponies feasted upon the rich grass.

The village of Minneria was three miles farther on, and our coolies, servants, and baggage were all far behind us.We had, therefore, no rifles or guns at hand, except a couple of shot-guns, which were carried by our horsekeepers : for these we had a few balls.

For about half an hour we waited in the impatient expectation of the arrival of our servants with the rifles.The afternoon was wearing away, and they did not appear.We could wait no longer, but determined to take a stroll and examine the country.We therefore left our horses and proceeded.