THE BANTING IN UPPER BURMA 



hat and crawl 'up as near as possible to the herd, taking 

 cover behind the ant-hills and rough grounds. As I move 

 or rather wriggle along towards them I have a peep to 

 see what they are doing ; now the whole herd, having got 

 our wind, are standing with head erect sniffing the tainted 

 breeze directly from us ; arrived at an ant-hill I prepare 

 for the shot which can at best be a poor one, for only the 

 chests of the animals are presented at a distance of about 

 1 30 yards. In the excitement I make as steady a shot as 

 possible ; the herd, however, do not move off at once, but 

 stand gazing, motionless. There is time for another shot ; 

 just as I have reloaded my '450 there is a clatter, followed 

 by the thundering of the herd over the prairie ; they are 

 gone, gone for miles ere they will feed again. No blood 

 is apparent in the place where the herd were grazing, nor 

 in the track of the fleeing beasts, so the bullet did not 

 probably take effect. 



The sight of a herd of tsine is, indeed, a placid one ; 

 as one stops and watches them lazily grazing amid a 

 wealth of luscious grass, showing unmistakable signs of 

 a surfeit of good feeding, the absolute stillness of the 

 jungle impresses itself upon one more than usual, and in 

 the harmonious placidity of the scene almost suggests 

 a picture of the Golden Age. Without doubt the tsine 

 is an exceptionally keen-scented and wideawake animal ; 

 and many a long and toilsome tramp has proved in vain 

 through the animals having winded the hunter as he 

 peregrinated here and there trying to puzzle out the 

 tracks of the herd and determine the direction taken. 

 When once the herd has taken alarm, it will travel for 

 days, finding refuge in some prominent ground amid 

 the lowest Chin Hills, from which any enemy approaching 

 can either be winded or seen. A herd which may happen 

 to be in the vicinity of one fired at will, on hearing the 

 shot, likewise make off; and, should it en route encounter 

 other herds, will probably cause them also to seek safety 

 in flight, so that it is prudent when after tsine, to fire at 

 nothing but tsine, and even then to make sure as possible 



491 



