At the expiration of that time the buffalo fell
suddenly in a sitting position, and there he remained fixed, many
seconds after, a dull sound returned to our ears; it was the 'fut' of
the ball, which had positively struck him at this immense range. What
the distance was I cannot say; it may have been 600 yards, or 800, or
more. It was shallow water the whole way: we therefore mounted our
horses and rode up to him. Upon reaching him, I gave him a settling ball
in the head, and we examined him. The heavy ball had passed completely
through his hips, crushing both joints, and, of course, rendering him
powerless at once.
The shore appeared full half a mile from us on our return, and I could
hardly credit my own eyes, the distance was so immense, and yet the ball
had passed clean through the animal's body.
It was of course a chance shot, and, even with this acknowledgment, it
must appear rather like the 'marvellous' to a stranger;--this is my
misfortune, not my fault. I certainly never made such a shot before or
since; it was a sheer lucky hit, say at 600 yards; and the wonderful
power of the rifle was thus displayed in the ball perforating the large
body of the buffalo at this range. This shot was made with a round ball,
not a cone. The round belted ball for this heavy two-grooved rifle
weighs three ounces. The conical ball weighs a little more than four
ounces.
While describing the long shots performed by this particular rifle, I
cannot help recounting a curious chance with a large rogue elephant in
Topari tank. This tank or lake is, like most others in Ceylon, the
result of vast labour in past ages. Valleys were closed in by immense
dams of solid masonry, which, checking the course of the rivers, formed
lakes of many miles in extent. These were used as reservoirs for the
water required for the irrigation of rice lands. The population who
effected these extensive works have long since passed away; their fate
is involved in mystery. The records of their ancient cities still exist,
but we have no account of their destruction. The ruins of one of these
cities, Pollanarua, are within half a mile of the village of Topari, and
the waters of the adjacent lake are still confined by a dam of two miles
in length, composed of solid masonry. When the lake is full, it is about
eight miles in circumference.
I had only just arrived at the village, and my horse-keeper had taken
the horse to drink at the lake, when he suddenly came running back to
say that a rogue elephant was bathing himself on the opposite shore, at
about two miles' distance.
I immediately took my guns and went after him.
