This the
Moorman fully understands, and overcomes all scruples by a
general mixture of the different meats, all of which he sells as
venison. Thus no animal is spared whose flesh can be passed off
for deer. Fortunately, their guns are so common that they will
not shoot with accuracy beyond ten or fifteen paces, or there
would be no game left within a few years. How these common guns
stand the heavy charges of powder is a puzzle. A native thinks
nothing of putting four drachms down a gun that I should be sorry
to fire off at any rate. It is this heavy charge which enables
such tools to kill elephants which would otherwise be
impossible. These natives look upon a first-class English rifle
with a sort of veneration. Such a weapon would be a perfect
fortune to one of these people, and I have often been astonished
that robberies of such things are not more frequent.
There is much difference of opinion among Ceylon sportsmen as to
the style of gun for elephant-shooting. But there is one point
upon which all are agreed, that no matter what the size of the
bore may be, all the guns should be alike, and the battery for
one man should consist of four double-barrels. The confusion in
hurried loading where guns are of different calibres is beyond
conception.
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