76 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



Baldwin, author of Large and Small Game of Bengal, when 

 shooting small game on foot near Loqua Ghat in Assam, was 

 pounced upon by one, and all but killed. I have known 

 natives, going up incautiously to what they supposed to be a 

 defunct buffalo, get killed. 



During the rutting season a bull takes possession of a tame 

 herd, feeding and associating with them during the day, and 

 even following them to the place where they are picketed at 

 night ; he soon loses all fear of man, and at times will not 

 allow the gwala to approach the cows even to milk them. 

 This applies to Assam and not to Burma, for the Burmese 

 don't use milk in any way, though buffaloes are milked by the 

 Karens. 



Dr. Mason says that he thinks the feral ones are but 

 descendants of tame ones run wild, but the people think 

 otherwise, and I agree with them. The Burmese bulls have 

 heavy horns, much curved as a rule, but the long-horned 

 variety is also frequently met with. The wild buffaloes resort 

 to the valleys in the Yomahs, and only venture into the 

 plains after the monsoon has commenced, in fact just as 

 sportsmen are going back home, so they are not often met 

 with. We shot a few during the last three or four of our 

 trips towards the end of May, but having to visit the same 

 localities once in July and August, I came across any number 

 of them. 



Tigers fight shy of the wild buffaloes, and will not attack 

 one if the herd is near, as they rush to the rescue, and often 

 Master Stripes comes off second best. In that trip during the 

 monsoon I shot a very large cow whose withers had been 

 nearly wrenched off, and her back was scored all over with 

 claw-marks, which must have been done by a tiger. 



Although buffaloes inhabit remote and swampy localities, 

 they at times do a great deal of damage to cultivation, and as 

 they are very fearless, refuse to be driven off. I have seen 

 elephants, buffaloes, and rhinoceros feeding about in the same 

 plain. 



The buffalo's forehead is narrow and convex, horns black, 

 very rough except towards the points, colour blackish-slate, 

 hair scant ; there are albinos occasionally among both tame 

 and wild, but in the latter, very seldom. In size they are 



