178 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



It was now about 4 p.m., and as we had not eaten any food 

 since 10.30 a.m. we proceeded to dispose of our respective 

 breakfasts, mine consisting of cold salted gaur tongue, biscuits, 

 dried figs, and some cold boiled rice, washed down with 

 beautifully cool, clear hill water. Moung Hpe opened out on 

 boiled rice, cold smoked gaur, and last, but not least, that 

 highly odoriferous national dish, a " bonne bouche," amongst 

 Burmans known as " ngapee." Whilst in the middle of our 

 well-earned meal we were startled by hearing the peculiar, 

 muffled humming sound already referred to, and which seemed 

 to proceed from no great distance. 



We both jumped to our feet with alacrity, sending the 

 remains of our meal flying. I seized my 8-bore and, after 

 pocketing a couple of spare cartridges, moved cautiously in the 

 direction of the sound, Moung Hpe bringing up the rear. 

 After wading through a swampy piece of ground for about 

 40 yards I caught sight of another wallow, from which the 

 sounds seemed to issue. Arriving within half-a-dozen paces 

 of it I saw a spectacle which made my heart throb at a 

 tremendous pace a rhinoceros lay submerged in the mud, 

 with its ears and the top of its head occasionally showing as 

 it rolled about from side to side, uttering each time its nostrils 

 and mouth rose above the surface low, peculiar, long-drawn 

 grunts. I cautiously withdrew and beckoned to Maung Hpe 

 to approach a little closer so that he might be of some assist- 

 ance in case of a charge, and, after seeing him ensconced 

 behind a tree within a few yards of the wallow to my right, I 

 took a steady aim for what I took to be the shoulder of the 

 animal, but which afterwards turned out to be its stomach, 

 and fired. 



A tremendous grunting, screaming, snorting, and splashing 

 ensued after my shot, and I was so near to the wallow that 

 several splashes of mud struck my hat and coat. 



The rhino, after making several rapid gyrations in the wallow 

 as if trying to bite its own tail, shot out of the pit through 

 mud two or three feet deep, and rushed down the side of the 

 hill as fast as any pig could travel, followed by a second bullet 

 from me and a right and left from Moung Hpe, all of which, 

 as I afterwards found, took effect in various parts of his body. 



