THAMIN, AND THEIR QUEST 



could find no ' trace of him. At last, evening coming 

 on, and being a long way from camp, I had to give up 

 the search and turn homewards, much to my regret, for 

 he carried a fine head, and I was loth to lose it. Near 

 by was a solitary dead tree, and on the top branch an 

 evil-looking vulture was perched. My Burman tracker 

 said he had marked the deer down, and that by-and-by 

 others would come. Next morning, being on another 

 part of the ground some distance away, I noticed a 

 number of birds hovering over one particular spot. We 

 steered towards it, and, as we drew near, clouds of vultures 

 rose and settled again. I knew it was either my stag 

 or a dead buffalo, frequently met with on these grounds ; 

 but they were so thick on the carcass that not until I 

 had fired a shot and disturbed them, could I see what 

 it was. To my delight it was the thamin what re- 

 mained ! The bullet had entered in front of the 

 shoulder, passing through the lungs and out behind the 

 shoulder on the opposite side. With this terrible wound 

 he had managed to reach cover and disappear. I found 

 the lungs ploughed up and quite blooded. The exit 

 wound was as large as a five-shilling piece, and a 

 portion blown out of two ribs. I should mention what 

 little meat remained, my Burman tracker carried off for 

 drying. 



I think the best weapon for this sport is a double "500 

 or '450 Express. An excellent gun is the "Jungle" 

 Paradox, and one I found to do good work. I shot at 

 first with a Lee-Metford -303, using dum-dum and soft- 

 nosed bullets, and although for long shots and straight 

 shooting it probably cannot be beaten, yet I was some- 

 what disappointed with the results, for the only stags 

 I lost were shot with this rifle. Unless hit in a vital 

 part, the animal will manage to reach cover, and so 

 lost, for it is surprising what an amount of killing a 

 full-grown thamin requires. The dum-dum bullet makes 

 a terrible wound, but I do not think it has sufficient 

 striking power, and therefore the shock is not sufficient 

 2 I 481 



