to cause collapse. The effect of the heavier ball of the 

 Paradox and '500 Express I found quite the reverse. 



Good water is a serious difficulty on these little ex- 

 peditions, and arrangements must be made for a daily 

 supply for cooking and other purposes. For drinking, 

 either soda-water should be carried, or aerated water made 

 from boiled water. In its unboiled state it is unsafe to 

 drink. One little point requires mentioning, and that is 

 to be on one's guard against snakes when stalking. These 

 are very numerous, and comprise cobras, hamadryads, tic 

 bolongas, etc. No one can shoot much in Burma without 

 coming across specimens of each species, which, as they 

 are all extremely poisonous, must be carefully avoided. 

 The danger, of course, lies in one's relaxing their attention 

 when stalking. It is a good plan to wear a pair of soft 

 leather socks over one's ordinary ones, and putties from 

 the knee down. With these precautions, and good boots, 

 one is pretty safe, even if they did tread on a snake. 



Burma offers a fine field for the sportsman and the 

 naturalist. The former may obtain elephant, tiger, 

 panther, the various kinds of deer, gaur, pig, etc., with 

 a reasonable amount of trouble. Tigers are bold and 

 numerous, and in May last, when in Rangoon, I heard 

 of a tiger being shot within nine miles of the town. The 

 country is picturesque, and the people interesting, but 

 the " trackers " are somewhat lazy and indolent. During 

 the months I have named the climate is excellent, though 

 warm, and tolerably, if not altogether, free from fever. 

 As I have said the nights during the hot weather are 

 nearly always cool, and, in those parts I shot, I noticed an 

 entire absence of mosquitoes, due probably to the scarcity 

 of water. 



There is no sensation more pleasing than the welcome 

 rest which comes after a long day's stalk, and my mind 

 goes back to a little camp, pitched in a grove of mango 

 trees, through whose thick leaves the sun never came. To 

 see this looming up, when one was tired and thirsty, was a 

 welcome sight; and after a refreshing tub and a good 



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