PREFACE ix 



I was not twenty-one years old when I went to Burma : I 

 possessed the constitution of a buffalo, I had private means of 

 my own, and drew exceptionally good pay from Government, 

 and I was, to all intents and purposes, my own master. I had 

 a district extending from our frontier to close on Moulmein, 

 over the whole valley of the Sittang river. I was employed in 

 road-making and surveying from Meaday down to Bassein and 

 Rangoon, and even to Cape Negrais, thus my opportunities 

 of exploring the country and indulging in its wild sports were 

 unrivalled. In Assam I had similar work to do I had the 

 districts of Nowgong, Tezpore, Durrung, Goalpara, the Cossyah 

 and Jynteah Hills under me, and I was expected to be out 

 in the district at all seasons ; and for nearly eight years there 

 were very few square miles that I had not traversed. Thus, 

 for over twenty-one years I was constantly on the move 

 without once taking extended leave to Europe. I was inured 

 to the climate, which is not nearly as deadly as represented ; 

 I was constitutionally strong, and I was also a believer in out- 

 door life, and never drank a drop of spirits or smoked, but I 

 should like to have all that I have spent in beer and other 

 (comparatively speaking) harmless beverages. Not that I see 

 the least harm in partaking of spirits or smoking, if not 

 indulged in to too great an extent ; but no one can expect to 

 keep healthy in those Provinces who indulges in brandy-panee, 

 and spends half the day in sleep, and who is afraid to venture 

 out for fear of sunstroke, those are not "the men for Gal way." 



F. T. POLLOK. 



There are would-be sportsmen who have spent most of 

 their time in mercantile pursuits in Rangoon, Moulmein, and 

 Bassein, and who, having shot a snipe or two, think they know 

 everything that is to be known with regard to sport. Hence 

 they criticize, as Munchausen, the records of adventure and 

 exploits that transcend the limits of their narrow experience, 

 and wax anonymously wrathful with sportsmen who are not 

 ashamed to add their names to what they relate. In reply to 



