nd when he is seen by a good sportsman, it is an evil hour
for him--he is followed till he gives up his tusks.

It is a singular thing that Ceylon is the only part of the world where
the male elephant has no tusks; they have miserable little grubbers
projecting two or three inches from the upper jaw and inclining
downward. Thus a man may kill some hundred elephants without having a
pair of tusks in his possession. The largest that I have seen in
Ceylon were about six feet long, and five inches in diameter in the
thickest part. These would be considered rather below the average in
Africa, although in Ceylon they were thought magnificent.

Nothing produces either ivory or horn in fine specimens throughout
Ceylon. Although some of the buffaloes have tolerably fine heads, they
will not bear a comparison with those of other countries. The horns of
the native cattle are not above four inches in length. The elk and the
spotted deer's antlers are small compared with deer of their size on
the continent of India. This is the more singular, as it is evident
from the geological formation that at some remote period Ceylon was not
an island, but formed a portion of the mainland, from which it is now
only separated by a shallow and rocky of some few miles. In India the
bull elephants have tusks, and the cattle and buffaloes have very large
horns. My opinion is that there are elements wanting in the Ceylon
pasturage (which is generally poor) for the formation of both horn and
ivory. Thus many years of hunting and shooting are rewarded by few
trophies of the chase. So great is the natural inactivity of the
natives that no one understands the preparation of the skins; thus all
the elk and deer hides are simply dried in the sun, and the hair soon
rots and fills off. In India, the skin of the Samber deer (the Ceylon
elk) is prized above all others, and is manufactured into gaiters,
belts, pouches, coats, breeches, etc.; but in Ceylon, these things are
entirety neglected by the miserable and indolent population, whose
whole thoughts are concentrated upon their bread, or rather their curry
and rice.

At Newera Ellia, the immense number of elk that I have killed would
have formed a valuable collection of skins had they been properly
prepared, instead of which the hair has been singed from them, and they
have been boiled up for dogs' meat.

Boars' hides have shared the same fate. These are far thicker than
those of the tame specie