IN BURMAH 323 



probably within a short distance of the patch of grass 

 whereon they browse at night. If the fates are very 

 kind you may get a shot at sambhur, or at wild 

 cattle (tsaing}, which latter are comparatively rare. 

 The day on which a tsaing is bagged is one to mark 

 with a white stone. 



The great obstacle to doing justice to one's 

 opportunities under these conditions is the presence 

 of a tiny winged insect called, rightly or wrongly, 

 the " bamboo fly." These creatures swarm in the 

 bamboo jungle, and seem to hold it their bounden 

 duty to get into your eye at the moment game 

 breaks. It may be possible to hold straight at a 

 galloping deer while shedding floods of fly-brought 

 tears, but I never managed to accomplish the feat 

 myself. The best thing to do is, Keep your cheroot 

 going till the last moment, as the flies will not face 

 the smoke. 



The flattering faith the native has in a white 

 man's skill with the rifle is apt to lead your shikari 

 into asking too much. Only by dint of misses did 

 I convince one disappointed man that it was useless 

 to drive game out of dense jungle across a six-foot 

 track into dense jungle to be shot at a hundred 

 yards range, or less, in the act of jumping the path. 

 Any driven beast crosses any open space with a leap 

 or at speed, and to drop him with a snap-shot 

 crossing a six-foot ride needs a marksman Dr. Carver 

 himself might respect. It may be worth reminding 

 the inexperienced hand that if a beast can choose 

 (and the gentle Burmese mode of beating allows him 



