ORDERED TO KARENNEE 199 



being, intending to look them up later on. The giant bull 

 was fully 21 hands high, and the greatest breadth of his 

 horns from bend to bend was 57 \ inches. Shoay Boh went 

 off to get men, and returned at 2 p.m., and, to my disgust, 

 with him came an orderly bearing an official letter, saying 

 I must return at once to take command of a force starting 

 next morning for Karennee. There was no help for it, so 

 telling the shikarie to preserve the gaur's head for me, and to 

 try and recover one if not both leopards, I mounted my pony, 

 found a change at Tseben, and got back to cantonments that 

 evening. After eight weeks' fruitless wanderings I returned ; 

 the alarm had been a false one. 



AN ELEPHANT HUNT 



In 1856 I had to go to Mendoon on the Matoon, a lovely 

 stream, some forty miles west or south-west of Thayet Myo, 

 which was, until lately, our frontier station on the Irrawady 

 on the right bank. I had been here before, and had had 

 various sport under the guidance of an old Burman shikarie 

 who had accompanied Ashe of the Artillery (afterwards killed 

 at Cawnpore) into the Arrakan range, where he shot three 

 elephants. 



On my arrival I sent for the man and inquired if there was 

 any game about near, for my time was limited, and I could 

 not remain away long from my head-quarters, which were at 

 Namyan. He professed to be able to show me a solitary bull 

 elephant with large tusks. I asked him how long it would 

 take to overhaul him. 



" If we leave to-day," he replied, " there is a teh we can 

 sleep in to-night, and get to the jungle he frequents about 

 twelve to-morrow." 



I had been sold before, so only credited about half what he 

 said ; but I could spare four days, during which my work- 

 people would be collecting certain timber I wanted, so telling 

 my head-man to dismantle some deserted phoongie houses 

 and to make rafts of the timber for transportation down the 

 Matoon to Prome, and that I'd be back in that time, I put 



