"The author, an old Ceylon Shikari, gives some very interesting, realistic, and thrilling experiences of his adventures after elephants and other wild animals in the jungle, water-hole shooting and crocodile catching, with notes on zoology, useful hints on sport, preservation and setting up of trophies, fitting out an expedition, anecdotes and humorous jungle yarns." British Books in Print (1920)
As noted by British big-game hunter Marcus Millett (Born 1868), Ceylon in 1914 afforded a charming and unique variety of sport, the big game to be secured consisting of elephant, buffalo, bear, leopard, sambur, several other kinds of deer, jackal and crocodiles.
In his 1914 book "Jungle Sport in Ceylon" Millett related his exciting, sometimes thrilling, time in Ceylon hunting elephants, bears, leopards, and even crocodiles.
In one encounter with an elephant, Millett recalled the elephant charging with "a loud shriek of rage, and seeing an immense head towering above, with trunk curled to one side, and a pair of vicious little eyes, coming straight for me."
In his endeavour to jump aside out of its way, Millett's foot unfortunately caught in a creeper, which threw him down, knocking his wind out. "Done for now," thought he.
As Millett describes it, "The brute immediately stopped dead and stood over me. While I was lying face downwards between its legs, expecting every moment to be flattened out by its feet, I could feel the hot air from its trunk, as it sniffed and blew dust over my head and face..."
Another time, Millett and his hunting party came upon a mysterious creature which he described as "a most extraordinary and gruesome-looking object—a thick, scaly, unshapely monster, with a large pair of horns and a tail, lying under a shady bush."
As noted by Millett, leopards are the only formidable members of the "tiger race" in Ceylon. They are numerous in the low country, living in cavities formed by masses of granitic gneiss boulders piled on each other. A rare black variety not spotted is seen occasionally.
In relating a close call he had with a crocodile, Millett writes: "The creature came straight for me with its jaws wide open, hissing like a steam engine. Waiting until it got quite close, I put the Express nearly down its throat...."
Millett's interesting account provides an exciting window into the life experiences of a big game hunter in one of the most pristine jungle environments and of the local tribes inhabiting the jungles of Ceylon.
Regarding the bear, Millett notes:
"Of the carnivora, the one most dreaded by the natives of Ceylon, and the only one of the larger animals which makes the depths of the jungle its habitual retreat, is the bear, attracted by the honey which is to be found in the hollow trees and clefts of the rocks. So furious are his assaults under these circumstances that the Cingalese have a terror of his attack greater than that created by any other beast of the forest."
Contents:
I. WHAT CEYLON OFFERS THE SPORTSMAN
II. SPORTING LOCALITIES
III. ON A MISCELLANEOUS SHOOTING TRIP
IV. AFTER THE INDIAN BUFFALO
V. SPORT WITH THE LEOPARD, DEER, JACKAL AND WILD BOAR
VI. THE CEYLON ELEPHANT IN THE JUNGLE
VII. PLEASURES OF ELEPHANT SHOOTING
VIII. THE RETURN TO CAMP
IX. SETTING UP AND CURING OF TROPHIES
X. SOME ELEPHANT SHOOTING EXPERIENCES
XI. ABOUT CROCODILE CATCHING
XII. WATERHOLE SHOOTING FOR BEAR AND LEOPARD
XIII. A MOONLIGHT WATERHOLE SHOOT AT KALUPETTI
XIV. WHY SPORT IS OFTEN SPOILT
XV. A SPORTSMAN'S YARNS
