BULLET AND SHOT 



of your mark. Sad experience has taught me that nothing 

 inferior to a "577 rifle should be used, but I should prefer 

 an 8-bore, for a weapon is required which will knock the 

 animal over wherever hit, bearing in mind that the difficult 

 and annoying chest shot is the most usual one offered in 

 tracking big game. Even when well hit with a bullet 

 from the '577 (excepting the shot planted behind the 

 shoulder) a tsine may give a lot of trouble by going some 

 miles ere he will yield to another shot. I have been at 

 some pains in making inquiries from the old Burmese and 

 Chin hunters as to the propensity of the tsine to charge 

 when wounded or when fired at in the first instance. The 

 consensus of native opinion will, no doubt, be contested 

 by many shikaris, but tot homines quot sententi&, and no 

 two sportsmen seem to have the same experiences, or 

 perhaps the same occurrences, present themselves differ- 

 ently to the minds of each and every individual. This 

 somewhat unorthodox opinion is that the tsine is a less, 

 nay, much less fearsome animal when wounded than the 

 bison in a similar plight ; that the bison is " tai so dai " 

 ("very bad"), to use the Burmese expression, but that the 

 tsine will die quietly, or, at any rate, receive the coup de 

 grace with more composure than the bison. I cannot but 

 think that, from the cautious manner in which the natives 

 pursue the bison, and the somewhat listless manner in 

 which they attack the tsines, there must be some founda- 

 tion for their assertion. Most of the old hunters will 

 relate an adventure in which one of their companions 

 came to a tragic end, either by the animal's horn having 

 been thrust through the thigh of the said companion, or by 

 being taken between the horns of the animal and the 

 life shaken out of him. On asking whether the animal 

 in question was a bison, or a tsine, the answer is invari- 

 ably " a bison ! " As there has been a good deal of 

 diversity in describing the colour of tsine, having seen 

 them at all ages and under various conditions, I may be 

 excused for recording my experiences as, at any rate, they 

 presented themselves to me. Once on coming up the 



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