BULLET AND SHOT 



blackish. The coat is thick and shaggy, the hair being 

 especially thick round the neck and down the spine ; on 

 the under part it is white and thinner. In height he 

 stands from 10*3 to ir2 hands, and weighs from thirteen 

 to fifteen stone, and sometimes over. According to 

 Veterinary-Captain Evans of Rangoon, who has probably 

 shot more of these animals than anyone else, there are 

 not two distinct kinds of thamin, as some sportsmen have 

 assumed, the difference in colour, etc., being probably due 

 to age, season of the year, and perhaps locality. The 

 head is graceful, the peculiarity being the great develop- 

 ment of the brow antlers. The main horns sweep 

 upwards, outwards, and inwards, and the usual number 

 of tines are ten, though often more are found. A good 

 head will measure 36 in. to 40 in. between widest points, 

 and from tip of brow-antler to tip of main, from 50 in. 

 to 5 5 in. The difference between stags found in Upper 

 and Lower Burma appears to be in colour and sweep 

 of horns, those of the latter province being wider and 

 more graceful. The hinds are a bright chestnut colour 

 with fine hair, the calves being pretty little creatures, 

 usually spotted white. Thamin are gregarious, and may 

 often be met with in herds of twenty and over. Though 

 found on the same ground as hog deer (Axis porcinus) 

 they do not seem to mix. The best time of the year for 

 a shoot is during the hot weather, March, April, and 

 May, the stags not being out of velvet before the end of 

 February. This means a fairly warm time, as the 

 thermometer frequently rises to iO4-io6 Fahr. during 

 the afternoons, but as the heat is of the dry kind, and 

 nights nearly always deliciously cool, it is not unbear- 

 able. I think Lower Burma affords better sport for 

 thamin than any other part of tne country, and travelling 

 is easier. 



To make a " bandobast " (expedition) for this particular 

 sport does not present many difficulties ; and, once in the 

 locality we have selected to shoot in, the rest is easy. At 

 fairly frequent intervals, Public Works Department bunga- 



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