92 Incidents of Foreign Field Sport. 



air was chilly, we being then fully 1,300 to 1,500 

 feet above sea level. Of course here there were no 

 mosquitoes or sand-flies. We were all very quiet, for 

 the shikarie told us elephants and gaur and even 

 "tsine" (wild cattle), wandered about, and often 

 passed the spot on which we were encamped. 

 Only such fires as were requisite to cook our meals 

 were lighted, and all were put out at 8 P.M., and 

 the night passed without disturbance. By 5 A.M. 

 we were up and away. We neither ascended nor 

 descended, but went along the edge of the plateau 

 towards some salt licks, which the shikarie said 

 were favourite places for elephants, gaur, deer, &c. 

 Leaving the plain we entered into a deep forest, 

 the principal trees being buttress trees, from which 

 the people extract a kind of oil or varnish. These 

 monarchs are immense in height and girth, not un- 

 frequently 150 feet without a branch ; the roots form 

 ridges often five feet high near the trunk, and 

 gradually sloping off, disappear fully ten or twelve feet 

 into the ground. Commonly on the lateral branches are 

 huge pendent beehives, many of them six or seven 

 feet long by three feet deep. These the bears are 

 attracted to either by the humming of the bees, or 

 scent of the honey, as they rob them. The Burmese 

 and Karens imitate these sagacious beasts in a way, 

 as they collect a lot of bamboo stakes, drive one in, 

 step on that, drive two more in, get on to one, hold 

 on to the other, and so on to the top. Besides these 

 buttress trees, there are clumps of bamboos scattered 

 about, some of the female plant, which is frequently 

 three feet in circumference, all but hollow, and grows 

 upright to fifty or sixty feet before drooping, and the 



