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The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon by Sir Samuel White Baker
page 136 of 283 (48%)
tremendous manner, having again been fired at and wounded by B. and W.
By this time I had got a spare gun, and, wading into the tank, I soon
came to such close quarters that I could not miss, and one shot killed
him. The other small elephant escaped unseen in the confusion caused by
the firing.

The following evening we again watched the pool, and once more a mother
and her young one came to drink. W. and B. extinguished the young one
while I killed the mother.

This watching by moonlight is a kind of sport that I do not admire; it
is a sort of midnight murder, and many a poor brute who comes to the
silent pool to cool his parched tongue, finds only a cup of bitterness,
and retires again to his jungle haunts to die a lingering death from
some unskilful wound. The best shot must frequently miss by moonlight;
there is a silvery glare which renders all objects indistinct, and the
shot very doubtful; thus two animals out of three fired at will
generally escape wounded.

I was tired of watching by night, and I again returned to the
neighbourhood of Yalle. After a long ride through a burning sun, I went
down to the river to bathe. The water was not more than three feet deep,
and was so clear that every pebble was plainly distinguishable at the
bottom.

I had waded hip-deep into the river when my servant, who was on the
bank, suddenly cried out, 'Sar! sar! come back, sar! Mora! mora!' and he
pointed to some object a little higher up the stream. It was now within
ten or twelve yards of me, and I fancied that it was a piece of drift
timber, but I lost no time in reaching the shore. Slowly the object
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