I
Happened To Have A Spear On That Occasion, So That I Felt He Could Not
Escape, And I Gave The Baying Dogs A Loud Cheer On.
Poor Cato!
It was
his first elk, and he little knew the danger of a buck at bay in such a
strong position. Answering with youthful ardour to my halloa, the young
dog sprang boldly at the elk's face, but, caught upon the ready antlers,
he was instantly dashed senseless upon the rocks. Now for old Smut, the
hero of countless battles, who, though pluck to the back-bone, always
tempers his valour with discretion.
Yoick to him, Smut! and I jumped into the water. The buck made a rush
forward, but at that moment a mass of yellow hair dangled before his
eyes as the true old dog hung upon his cheek. Now came the tug of
war--only one seizer! The spring had been so great, and the position of
the buck was so secure, that the dog had missed the ear, and only held
by the cheek. The elk, in an instant, saw his advantage, and quickly
thrusting his sharp brown antlers into the dog's chest, he reared to his
full height and attempted to pin the apparently fated Smut against a
rock. That had been the last of Smut's days of prowess had I not
fortunately had a spear. I could just reach the elk's shoulder in time
to save the dog. After a short but violent struggle, the buck yielded up
his spirit. He was a noble fellow, and pluck to the last.
Having secured his horns to a bush, lest he should be washed away by the
torrent, I examined the dogs. Smut was wounded in two places, but not
severely, and Cato had just recovered his senses, but was so bruised as
to move with great difficulty. In addition to this, he had a deep wound
from the buck's horn under the shoulder.
The great number of elk at the Horton plains and the open character of
the country, make the hunting a far more enjoyable sport than it is in
Newera Ellia, where the plains are of much smaller extent, and the
jungles are frightfully thick. During a trip of two months at the Horton
Plains, we killed forty-three elk, exclusive of about ten which the
pack ran into and killed by themselves, bringing home the account of
their performances in distended stomachs. These occurrences frequently
happen when the elk takes away through an impervious country, where a
man cannot possibly follow. In such cases the pack is either beaten off,
or they pull the elk down and devour it.
This was exemplified some time ago, when the three best dogs were nearly
lost. A doe elk broke cover from a small jungle at the Horton Plains,
and, instead of taking across the patinas (plains), she doubled back to
an immense pathless jungle, closely followed by three
greyhounds--Killbuck, Bran, and Lena. The first dog, who ran beautifully
by nose, led the way, and their direction was of course unknown, as the
dogs were all mute. Night came, and they had not returned. The next day
passed away, but without a sign of the missing dogs. I sent natives to
search the distant jungles and ravines in all directions. Three days
passed away, and I gave up all hope of them. We were sitting at dinner
one night, the fire was blazing cheerfully within, but the rain was
pouring without, the wind was howling in fitful gusts, and neither moon
nor stars relieved the pitchy darkness of the night, when the
conversation naturally turned to the lost dogs. What a night for the
poor brutes to be exposed to, roaming about the wet jungles without a
chance of return!
A sudden knock at the door arrested our attention; it opened. Two
natives stood there, dripping with wet and shivering with cold. One had
in his hand an elk's head, much gnawed; the other man, to my delight,
led the three lost dogs. They had run their elk down, and were found by
the side of a rocky river several miles distant--the two dogs asleep in
a cave, and the bitch was gnawing the remains of the half-consumed
animal. The two men who had found them were soon squatted before a
comfortable fire, with a good feed of curry and rice, and their skins
full of brandy.
Although the elk are so numerous at the Horton Plains, the sport at
length becomes monotonous from the very large proportion of the does.
The usual ratio in which they were killed was one buck to eight does. I
cannot at all account for this small proportion of bucks in this
particular spot. At Newera Ellia they are as two or three compared with
the does. The following extract of deaths, taken from my game-book
during three months of the year, will give a tolerably accurate idea of
the number killed:
1852.
March 24. Doe . . Killed in the Elk Plains.
30. Two Does . Killed in Newera Ellia Plain.
April 3. Doe . . Killed at the foot of Hack Galla.
5. Buck . . Killed at the foot of Pedro.
8. Doe . . Killed at the top of the Pass.
13. Buck . . Killed at the foot of the Pass.
16. Buck . . Killed in the river at the Pass.
19. Doe . . Killed on the patinas on Badulla road.
21. Buck . . Killed in the river at the base of Pedro.
23. Buck . . Killed in Matturatta Plain.
25. Doe . . Killed in the Elk Plains.
25. Sow . . Killed in the Elk Plains.
27. Boar . . Killed at the Limestone Quarry.
May 3. Sow . . Killed in the Elk Plains.
6. Two Does . Killed in the Barrack Plain.
10. Two Does . One killed in the Barrack Plain, and
the other at the bottom of the Pass.
12. Buck . . Killed in Newera Ellia Plain.
19. Buck . . Killed in the Newera Ellia River.
22. Doe . . Killed at the Pioneer Lines-Laboukelle.
31.
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