40 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



go such immense distances, that a stern chase is, with them, 

 the proverbially long one. Although I shot several elephants 

 in Lower Burma, yet, as my colleague will relate his adven- 

 tures which will be new, whereas mine would be stale, I leave 

 them out. 



Elephants are at all times a wandering race ; they consume 

 so much, and waste so much more, that no single forest could 

 long support them, hence their roving propensities. During 

 the rains they are very destructive to the paddy crops ; when 

 the harvest has been gathered, they retire to their hill fast- 

 nesses ; it is best to follow them there, but somehow with a 

 few exceptions sportsmen now-a-days fear discomforts and 

 fever more than a generation or two back. There is no royal 

 road to sport risks must be run, if you wish to be successful 

 and are at heart a shikarie. You must first learn to shoot 

 quickly and accurately ; then study the habits of the beasts 

 you wish to follow, and the right way to circumvent them, 

 and then to rough it. 



Elephants have a very keen sense of smell and of hearing, 1 

 and so they must be approached up wind ; and in the dry 

 season, owing to the number of fallen twigs and leaves, it is 

 almost impossible to come close enough to a herd to be able 

 to kill one. If they hear the slightest noise, off they go, but 

 after the jungles have been burnt and a shower or two has 

 fallen, particularly when they are feeding on bamboos, they 

 are easier to get at. A friend of mine once got so close to a 

 tusker's quarters, that he gave him a pat to make him turn 

 out, which he did, only to fall dead instantly. 



The tree leeches, 2 so plentiful in forests inhabited by these 

 beasts in Lower Burma, are a sad drawback to the pleasures 

 of sport as I never found anything which could keep them 

 out for long. I tried the crude petroleum as obtainable in 

 Burma; that did for a while, but directly it got washed off 

 by the dew, in they got. The best though by no means an 



1 Their sense of hearing or sight is dull, in my opinion, compared with 

 their sense of smell. W. S. THOM. 



2 None in Upper Burma. W. S. THOM. 1 



1 He has found plenty lately in the Arrakan Yomahs. F. T. P. 



