COME ACROSS AND SHOOT TWO RHINOCEROS 175 



of an hour and a half on an outlying spur of the Shwe-u- 

 taung hill, two of which I succeeded in bagging. We had 

 been camping in a cave on the top of the hill, and were 

 moving down a spur intending to pitch on new ground as 

 soon as we came across traces of rhino or gaur. 



I had been out on a shooting expedition for over a month, 

 having been granted leave from April 3 to May 17, and 

 during that time I had succeeded in getting two elephants, 

 six gaur, one tsine, one sambur, two barking deer, one 

 leopard, and one serow not a bad bag. Moung Hpe and 

 I left camp early and started walking leisurely down the 

 ridge, leaving the remainder to pack up and follow at a 

 respectable distance. 



We had gone about two and a half miles, when Moung 

 Hpe, suddenly stooping down and examining the ground 

 carefully, exclaimed, " Kyan hnit kaung, mane ga ma net 

 saw zaw thwa ge de" (Two rhinos passed this way early 

 yesterday morning). We immediately called a halt and 

 held a consultation, chose a suitable spot for our camp, and 

 arranged for tracking up the animals. Eventually we agreed 

 that our carriers and camp-followers, numbering in all some 

 twenty men, had better follow our trail in single file, in 

 silence, and at a respectable distance, until we came on 

 fresher tracks, when we could fix on some more convenient 

 spot near a stream for our camp. On this occasion I was 

 armed with a 12-bore rifle, and a double 8-bore burning 

 twelve drams. Moung Hpe carried the 12-bore, whilst I took 

 the heavier weapon. After warning our followers to remain 

 perfectly quiet whilst on the march in our rear, Moung Hpe 

 and I started off and took on the tracks of the rhinos, with 

 every hope of being able to come up with them in some 

 mud-wallow before dark. Moung Hpe as usual took the 

 lead, and whenever he was at fault, which very rarely hap- 

 pened, I assisted him by making wide casts till the trail was 

 recovered. We had greater difficulties to contend with than 

 I had expected to find. The ground was not only covered 

 with a thick layer of leaves, which in places had either been 

 scratched up by jungle fowl and pheasant, or scattered by the 

 wind, thereby obliterating all foot-prints, but at times it was 



