58 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



round every moment so he stepped behind a tree to see 

 what was up ; as soon as the boar had reached the crest of 

 the hill, which was quite flat and open, then he turned round 

 and halted. In a few seconds up came a large tiger, but the 

 pig would not move; as the tiger walked round him, so the 

 pig turned, presenting a bold front. Scott was so absorbed 

 in the spectacle, wishing to see its denotiment^ that he never 

 thought of firing ; but whether the tiger funked or whether 

 he got a taint of the biped, he suddenly sprang down the hill- 

 side, and the boar galloped off on that opposite. Before 

 Scott could raise his gun to fire, both animals had disappeared. 

 I here relate a story of a tussle we had with a tigress. 



On May 1 1 we moved to Myetquin from Banlong on the 

 Sittang, Burma. 



Madden and Osmer of the 6pth went out to try and secure 

 one or two of the numerous deer we could see scattered over 

 the plain, whilst Boyle and I stayed at home. 



Between 3 and 4 p.m., just as we were thinking of having 

 our daily bath, a mahout on a small elephant hurried up, 

 saying his confreres on the other .elephants had surrounded 

 a tiger close by. We could see them grouped in a circle not 

 more than a quarter of a mile away. We had no time to 

 spare, as the sun sets about 6 p.m. There is no twilight in 

 the east, and it would be dark at 6.30. Boyle, brother of the 

 defender of Arrah, had not undressed, but I had on only my 

 pyjama suit and no socks, and a pair of slipshod slippers. 



Seizing a couple of guns each, we mounted the elephant 

 without changing, and in a few minutes were at the scene of 

 action. Boyle got on to a large commissariat tusker on a 

 pad. I got on to my own elephant, and sat on the charah, 

 or green fodder, which was piled on his back ready to be 

 taken to camp. No sooner did we advance than I saw the 

 tigress creeping along in front of us, but she saw us as soon 

 as we spotted her, and before we could fire, with a short half- 

 roar, half-growl, came at us open-mouthed. I think her object 

 was to frighten our steeds, and in this she fully succeeded, as 

 every beast we had turned tail and bolted ; but both Boyle 

 and I fired, and one of our shots went through her foot. She 

 then took refuge in a patch of long grass. As soon as we 

 got control over the elephants, we formed line and again 



