334 BIG GAME SHOOTING 



drew back unseen on to the sandy path to try for a 

 better position, but before I had taken a dozen steps 

 he circled round once or twice at a slow trot and then 

 started off best pace up the hill. Close as we (self 

 and three Karens) were, he had not detected us, and 

 my firm belief, confirmed by other interviews, is that 

 he was dazed by the report of the rifle so close to 

 him ; there is good reason to think also that the 

 sight of this beast is neither keen nor quick. 



After a stern chase of four hours, during which 

 the blood tracks, at first highly encouraging, gradually 

 ceased altogether, we had to give him up. It was 

 typical of Karen theories, that the shikari (whose dis- 

 cretion had taken him behind a big tree the moment 

 he had pointed out the beast) should have expressed 

 his sorrow that I did not break a hind leg of the beast 

 when I had the second chance ; for "he could not then 

 run fast, and your honour would certainly have killed 

 him with more shots after a very little walking." 



An acquaintance who encountered a bison under 

 very similar circumstances had sad reason to remem- 

 ber it ; the beast saw or winded the party, charged 

 without waiting to be attacked, and killed the Karen 

 shikari on the spot. If the spoor leads you to the 

 hill crests where the bison drowses away the hot 

 hours of the day, you may have a much better 

 chance, but it depends entirely on the nature of the 

 spot he chooses for his siesta. The best one I ever 

 lost was when my Karen sighted our quarry from 

 fully 50 yards distance lying down under a bamboo 

 clump to chew the cud ; holding fire to try and get 



