THE BANTING OR TSINE IN UPPER BURMA* 



NOT much has been written about the banting, or tsine,, 

 as it is called by the Burmese, chiefly because it is locally 

 confined to a few spots on the globe ; and, unlike the 

 bison, it very much objects to dwelling in the near neigh- 

 bourhood of human habitations. It has thus happened 

 that what little information we possess concerning the 

 haunts and habits of this animal has come to us through 

 sportsmen exceptionally favoured by circumstances, and, 

 we should add, exceptionally tough, for the successful 

 pursuit of tsine entails the roughest of camp life. The 

 notes here gathered together have been made during the 

 course of some years' sojourn in the jungles of Upper 

 Burma, mainly in the Terai, at the foot of the Chin Hills. 

 A description of the kind of country at the foot of these 

 hills may, perhaps, be of interest. It is here that the 

 plains of Upper Burma, and the steep, irregular slopes 

 of the wild Chin Hills meet. The Chin Hills, through 

 many streams, drain into the valleys of Burma ; in these 

 valleys there are vast plains of grass and stunted trees, 

 over which the tsine roams ; the country is of a prairie- 

 like description, much broken up by ravines, some shallow, 

 some deep. In parts of this undulating prairie for it 

 cannot well be called forest it is possible to see for 

 many hundreds of yards, and a shot has occasionally 

 to be taken at such distances, there being no choice in 

 the matter of a nearer approach. The grass in these 

 plains is of a rather fine quality, almost equal in appear- 

 ance to our own meadow grasses ; the soil is a browny- 



* This article, which appeared in the same issue of the Field as the preceding 

 one, is reproduced in extenso by kind permission of the editor and the author. 



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