6 INTRODUCTION 



selection of the smallest cartridge possible on each occasion, often 

 a tiresome stalk, and a large amount of dodging about to get a 

 clean shot through the leaves and branches, so that the event is 

 by no means a more foregone conclusion than sport in the open. 



Besides bags for cartridges and specimens, with extractor, 

 knife, string, cotton-wool, and wrapping paper, it is absolutely- 

 essential, if it is intended to penetrate the jungle at all, that one 

 should carry some sort of implement — cutlass, parang, or viachete 

 — to hew a way through the tangled undergrowth. 



It is far the best plan, when shooting in the tropics, not to 

 indulge in a too elaborate outfit. The most suitable and common- 

 sense clothing consists of a stout cotton suit of pyjamas, grey or 

 brown in colour for preference, with pockets ; the ends of the 

 trousers should be tied round the ankles with string, to keep out 

 the ants and leeches, and only when these and thorns are very 

 bad need stronger trousers and puttees be worn. Such clothes are 

 easily put on and off, are comfortable, and are not heavy when 

 soaked with water, rain, and perspiration. 



On board ship, when away from civilisation, we invariably 

 wore a similar dress, or the national garment of Malaya, the 

 sarong, than which nothing is more comfortable in a hot climate, 

 unless it be the exceedingly sensible dress of the tropic-dwelling 

 Chinese. 



For head-dress there is no better gear than an old felt hat 

 (terat), which can be rolled up and put away in the game-bag 

 when one is in the shade of the forest. In one of the most delight- 

 ful books that has been written about the East, the following lines 

 occur:* "Given a thick jungle, trees 200 feet high, and a mush- 

 room-helmeted sportsman, it will be seen that comfort and a large 

 bag are incompatible. A long training in the Sistine Chapel is 

 necessary for this work. Absurd as it may seem, my spine in the 

 region of the neck eventually became so sore that I was on more 

 than one occasion compelled to give myself a rest." With the 

 latter part of the passage I perfectly concur, for one often stands 



* The Cruise of the Marchesn, by F. H. H. Guillcmard, second edition, 

 London, 1889. 



