"The load struck him full in the face and stunned him; the instant I fired I turned and ran for a tree about a hundred yards away, and the time gained by bewildering him with the shot was just enough, without a second to spare. He stood near the foot of the tree and watched me for some time, the blood pouring from the two wounds I had made in his shoulders; after a while one of my attendants crept through the grass and passed my rifle to me, with a lot of fresh cartridges, and I was soon able to finish the brute. Sir Samuel Baker had a similar experience while hunting in Ceylon; in fact, it was so nearly like mine that the two stories have sometimes been mistaken for each other. "And now that you know what might be seen on the road to Trincomalee," said Doctor Bronson, rising from his chair, "we will get ready for Newera-Ellia. We go there partly by rail, and partly by carriage-road; the train starts at seven o'clock, and leaves the main line at the first station from Kandy. The branch carries us to Gampola, and there we leave the train and take a carriage the rest of the way." They were off the next morning, according to the programme; the railway only carried them a dozen or fifteen miles, and then they mounted what was called a coach, though it was really nothing more than a strong wagon, adapted to the rough roads of the mountains. The first part of the ride took them through a series of rice-fields, coffee plantations, and native villages of huts thatched with palm-leaves: they had an opportunity of seeing the native children playing before the doors in all the glory of nothing to wear. [Illustration: NATIVE HOUSE AND CHILDREN.] Up and up went the road, and after a time the coffee estates gave way to tea plantations. The Doctor told the boys that coffee in Ceylon grows at any elevation between 1800 and 4000 feet, and tea flourishes between 4000 and 6000 feet. Tea culture in Ceylon is in its infancy, and most of those who have tried it have found it unprofitable; but they are persevering, and feel confident that it will turn out all right. The tea-planters say they have the same climate as Java, and if the latter can produce tea to advantage, there is no reason why it should not be profitable in Ceylon. They had charming scenery all the way, and in many places it was unusually attractive. At one station (where they changed horses) the view from the veranda included a magnificent water-fall, where a good-sized river dashed in three streams over a precipice and united just below in a single torrent. As they rode along, the panorama of mountain and valley was constantly changing, and every minute seemed to have a new surprise in store for them.