at one discharge of his gun. This he
accomplished by waiting till a young one was below
its mother, when he would fire at the latter, and
her fall would kill the young one. It is almost
distressing to think of the enormous quantity
of animal matter thus left in the forests by one
single man, and we can hardly consider such
destruction justifiable, even though we know
that numbers of animals would be ready to fall
upon the carcase and fatten thereon as soon as
the sportsman had left. But it is well known
that Major Rogers purchased one or more steps
in the army by the proceeds of the ivory secured
in this manner, for although very few Ceylon
elephants have tusks, all have tushes.

It may be supposed that Major Rogers was
a man who devoted his whole time to shooting
This is very far from the truth. He was
the principal government officer in a district
containing some eighty thousand inhabitants.
He was commandant, government agent, district
judge, and coroner. He traced roads, he planted
coffee, and was one of the most energetic
government servants in the island. The Kandians
regarded him with superstitious veneration, and
believed him to bear a charmed life, and the
manner of his death was calculated to favour
their idea of his being different from ordinary
mortals. He was at a bungalow on the
Happootalle Pass one day during a thunder-storm.
He stepped out and looked up to see if it were
likely to clear. A lady and a gentleman, his
travelling companions, were on the verandah.
Suddenly there was a flash, and Major Rogers
lay lifeless on the ground. Nothing could be
found on his person to show where he had been
struck, save a small spot on the heel, just below
his spur.

A gentleman, halting for a night in the
neighbourhood years afterwards, overheard an old
Kandian telling of the famous " Major Rogers." He
told of his marvellous feats, and how he could
pass unscathed through imminent danger. " But
at last," said the story-teller, " he cut down this
forest that belongs to the Kattregam temple
and planted coffee; then Buddha got angry, and
killed him by lightning." There is a monument
to his memory in Kandy church—a palm-tree
in the pride of its beauty is smitten by a flash
of lightning. In the distance is Adam's Peak.
Beneath is inscribed, "Lo these are parts of
His ways, but the thunder of His power who
can understand."

There are many stories of his wonderful
escapes. Among others, the following: One
morning, after shooting five elephants out of a
herd, he retired for breakfast under a tree a
short way off, and directed one of his followers
to go and cut off the tails of his victims. The
man came back with three, and said the owners
of the remaining two had vanished. Major
Rogers thereupon went to see what had become
of them, and soon saw one of them standing in
the jungle, near the sandy bed of what was in
wet weather a large river. As soon as the
elephant saw the major he charged. The major
fired and brought him down on his knees, but
he got up and again charged. The second
barrel was fired, but without better effect, and
it now became necessary to run to cover, across
the bed of the river. The major ran, the
elephant ran, and it became a question of life and
death which of the two could run the faster.
Once in the jungle and the sportsman would be
safe. At length he reached the bank; another
second or two—a few more steps—and he might
take a shot at his foe; but, ere he could reach,
his cover, he felt a blow on his shoulder from the
trunk of the elephant, and rolled heavily on the
ground. He gathered himself up, and made a
second attempt to get away, when another blow,
another, and yet another from the merciless
trunk dislocated his shoulder and broke his arm
and several of his ribs. He then lay motionless,
though still conscious, when the elephant began,
to play football with him, knocking him
backwards and forwards between his fore and hind
legs. At this crisis, one of his men who had
heard the firing came up with a spare gun, and
fired both barrels into the elephant; but this
extraordinarily irrational beast, that would not
lie quiet and die like a well-conducted elephant,
now left his victim, and charged his second foe,
who ran off into the forest and climbed a tree.
Thereupon the elephant took post beneath it, but
finding that the man did not come down, and
remembering where he had left his football, he
returned to the same place, no doubt intending to
have another game with it. But the major had
managed to crawl into the jungle, where he
concealed himself as best he could. The
elephant sniffed about and made search for him for
some time, and at last trumpeted and went off.
Major Rogers was caried into Badulla, where
his wounds and bruises in due time healed; but,
tired of inactivity, while one arm was still in a
sling he borrowed a light gun, which he could
bring up to his shoulder with the other hand,
and therewith killed two elephants.

Some time ago a gentleman living in Galle
heard of an elephant in a jungle about eight
miles off, so he set out in pursuit. He soon
came upon the marks of the elephant, and then
upon the individual in person. My friend had
never shot an elephant before, and knew nothing
of going up the wind or other similar dodges,
and the consequence was that he could not get
a shot for ever so long. Every now and then
when he got near, the elephant would walk on a
little way; then lie would stop, and just as my
friend got near him he would go on again. This
lasted from half-past nine in the morning to half-past
three in the afternoon. At last the elephant
got annoyed at being thus followed, and resolved
to put a stop to it. So he went into a thick
clump of jungle, made a circuit, and came back
and waited for his enemy. My friend was poking
about looking for the elephant, and wondering
what on earth had become of him, when all at
once he rushed out quite close to him with his
trunk lifted ready to strike. My friend had not
an instant to lose; he mechanically threw up his
gun without taking aim, and fired, and down
came the elephant as dead as a herring. In the