of Buffaloes--Hard
Work--Close Quarters--Six Feet from the Muzzle--A Black with a Devil.

There is one thing necessary to the enjoyment of sport in Ceylon, and
without which no amount of game can afford thorough pleasure; this is
personal comfort. Unlike a temperate climate, where mere attendance
becomes a luxury, the pursuit of game in a tropical country is attended
with immense fatigue and exhaustion. The intense heat of the sun, the
dense and suffocating exhalations from swampy districts, the constant
and irritating attacks from insects, all form drawbacks to sport that
can only be lessened by excellent servants and by the most perfect
arrangements for shelter and supplies. I have tried all methods of
travelling, and I generally manage to combine good sport with every
comfort and convenience.

A good tent, perfectly waterproof, and of so light a construction as to
travel with only two bearers, is absolutely indispensable. My tent is on
the principle of an umbrella, fifteen feet in diameter, and will house
three persons comfortably. A circular table fits in two halves round
the tent-pole; three folding chairs have ample space; three beds can be
arranged round the tent walls; the boxes of clothes, etc., stow under
the beds; and a dressing-table and gun-rack complete the furniture.

Next in importance to the tent is a good canteen. Mine is made of
japanned block tin, and contains in close-fitting compartments an entire
dinner and breakfast service for three persons, including everything
that can be required in an ordinary establishment. This is slung upon a
bamboo, carried by two coolies.

Clothes must always be packed in tin boxes, or the whole case will most
likely be devoured by white ants.

Cooking utensils must be carried in abundance, together with a lantern,
axe, bill-hook, tinder-box, matches, candles, oil, tea, coffee, sugar,
biscuits, wine, brandy, sauces, etc., a few hams, some tins of preserved
meats and soups, and a few bottles of curacea, a glass of which, in
the early dawn, after a cup of hot coffee and a biscuit, is a fine
preparation for a day's work.

I once tried the rough system of travelling, and started off with
nothing but my guns, clothes, a box of biscuits, and a few bottles
of brandy--no bed, no pillow, no tent nor chairs or table, but, as my
distressed servant said, 'no nothing.' This was many years ago, when
the excitement of wild sports was sufficient to laugh at discomfort.
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