This is the commencement of the south-west monsoon, which usually sets in with great violence.

The remaining portion of what is called the wet season, till the end of November, is about as uncertain as the climate of England--some days fine, others wet, and every now and then a week of rain at one bout.
A thoroughly saturated soil, with a cold wind, and driving rain and forests as full of water as sponges, are certain destroyers of scent; hence, hunting at Newera Ellia is out of the question during such weather.

The hounds would get sadly out of condition, were it not for the fine weather in the vicinity which then invites a trip.
I have frequently walked ten miles to my hunting grounds, starting before daybreak, and then after a good day's sport up and down the steep mountains, I have returned home in the evening.

But this is twelve hours' work, and it is game thrown away, as there is no possibility of getting the dead elk home.

An animal that weighs between four hundred and four hundred and fifty pounds without his insides, is not a very easy creature to move; at any time, especially in such a steep mountainous country as the neighborhood of Newera Ellia.