DINE OFP RHINOCEROS STEAK 177 



fore-leg ; a right and a left behind the shoulder brought it to 

 a standstill, and a third shot completed the business. After 

 marking the spot carefully we returned to the wallow, in- 

 tending to take on the tracks of the animal fired at by Moung 

 Hpe. We found that his bullet (Moung Hpe having fired 

 only one shot, being unaccustomed to a double rifle, and 

 naturally finding the firing of a second shot with any degree 

 of precision well-nigh impossible) had passed through a 

 creeper about the thickness of a man's calf, which would 

 naturally lessen the penetration of the bullet, although he 

 used a steel-tipped one. 



After arranging a suitable spot for camp with our followers, 

 who had in the meantime joined us at the wallow, and who 

 were in great glee at the thought of dining off rhinoceros 

 flesh, Moung Hpe and I started off after the other rhino, which, 

 from a spot of blood found on a cane-bush near the wallow, 

 had evidently been hit. 



We were rather ludicrous-looking objects after we had been 

 following the trail for some time, our clothes, hands, and faces 

 being plentifully besmeared with the clayey mud whilst 

 following in the wake of the rhino, which deposited a portion 

 of its coating on the bushes and branches at every step. 

 After puzzling over the tracks for three and a half miles of 

 very rugged country, up and down hill, through cane brakes 

 and ravines, we gave it up in disgust, as not only was it getting 

 late, but the animal had not shown any signs of having been 

 badly wounded. An animal, as a rule, when severely wounded 

 lies down once or twice to rest after the first mile or so ; an 

 experienced Burman hunter can often tell by the footprint of an 

 animal such as the gaur or tsine whether it has been wounded 

 or not, the slot of a wounded beast being often deep and 

 irregular, though this very rarely occurs in the case of a 

 wounded elephant or rhino, which, as a rule, only lie down when 

 about to die or unable to stand ; though I did once follow a 

 huge " Muckna" which lay down to rest no fewer than three 

 times within the distance of two miles. 



I did not succeed in coming up with this animal, although 

 it had received three 8-bore spherical hardened bullets well 

 placed behind the shoulder. 



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