at extraordinary ranges,
as there is no doubt of his shooting, and, when he misses, the ball has
whizzed somewhere very close to the object; the chances are, therefore,
in favour of the rifle.

The deer differ in character in various parts of Ceylon. In some places
where they are rarely disturbed they can be approached to within thirty
or forty paces, in which case a very moderate shot can easily kill
them; but it is better sport when they are moderately wild. The greatest
number of deer that I ever saw was in the south-eastern part of Ceylon,
in the neighbourhood of Pontane and Yalle. The whole of this country is
almost uninhabited, and accordingly undisturbed. Yalle is the nearest
town of importance, from which a good road, lined on either side with
cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees, extends as far as Tangalle, fifty
miles. A few miles beyond this village the wild country begins, and
Hambantotte is the next station, nearly ninety miles from Yalle. The
country around Hambantotte is absolutely frightful-wide extending plains
of white sand and low scrubby bushes scattered here and there;
salt lakes of great extent, and miserable plains of scanty herbage,
surrounded by dense thorny jungles. Notwithstanding this, at some
seasons the whole district is alive with game. January and February are
the best months for elephants and buffaloes, and August and September
are the best seasons for deer, at which time the whole country is burnt
up with drought, and the game is forced to the vicinity of Yalle river
and the neighbouring pools. In the wet season this district is nearly
flooded, and forms a succession of deep marshes, the malaria from
which is extremely unhealthy. At this time the grass is high, and the
elephants are very numerous.

When I was in this part of the country the drought was excessive; the
jungle was parched, and the leaves dropped from the bushes under the
influence of a burning sun. Not a cloud ever appeared upon the sky, but
a dazzling haze of intense heat spread over the scorched plains. The
smaller streams were completely dried up, and the large rivers were
reduced to rivulets in the midst of a bed of sand.

The whole of this country is a succession of flat sandy plains and low
jungles contiguous to the sea-coast. The intense heat and the glare of
the sun rendered the journey most fatiguing. I at length descried a long
line of noble forest in the distance, and this I conjectured to be near
the river, which