Vlll 



PREFACE 



ence of Lower Burma, and over seven of Assam. Mr. Thorn 

 has spent eleven years in the two Provinces (now one). 



I have no doubt, as the country is opened and developed 

 from Assam downwards, it will be formed into a Lieutenant- 

 Governor Chief, with separate Commissioners for each Province, 

 and the best men for administering the country, or for 

 exploiting its vast resources, are those fond of a wild life, and 

 who go into the inmost depths in search of the wild beasts of 

 the field. 



There is no country not even Africa where there is more 

 and varied game than Assam and Burma. The people of Assam, 

 debased as they are, are preferable to Africans in general, and 

 all Europeans who have come in contact with the Burmese 

 prefer them to most Asiatics. 



Neither Mr. Thorn nor I pretend to be learned naturalists, 

 but we have been keen sportsmen and kept our eyes open, 

 and have studied the manners and habits of the animals we 

 have hunted, and we flatter ourselves that many points which 

 we have noted have been ignored or overlooked in the best 

 Natural Histories. 



In Lower Burma, to be successful as a hunter, elephants are 

 requisite, but are seldom procurable, excepting by a very few. 

 In Upper Burma my colleague did all his shooting on foot, 

 tracking up and stalking game with the assistance of skilled 

 Moksos or native hunters, partly because the pleasure and 

 excitement gained in this way were greater than could be 

 obtained from the back of an elephant, and partly because 

 this animal was available only for officers of the Forest and 

 Public Work Departments, and that on rare occasions. 



I far prefer shooting on foot to shooting out of howdahs, but 

 for tiger-shooting in Lower Burma, and for big game gener- 

 ally there, nothing could be done without those useful slaves. 

 But I was exceptionally fortunate : I had four attached to my 

 Department, I had always one or two of my own, and the right 

 to indent for four from the Commissariat on payment, and as 

 the Commissariat Officer was an old brother officer of mine he 

 allowed me the pick, and as my jemadar had been formerly in 

 the Keddah department, he knew many of the mahouts and 

 elephants, and helped me to choose the best for sport. 



