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.