A GOOD BATTERY 261 



A supply of paddy or unhusked rice should be taken out 

 into camp for your pony. 



Native blankets for your servants and followers. 



Rifles, Cartridges, Camera, and Binoculars. 



It will be unnecessary for me to enter into details on this 

 subject, as numerous books on Indian and African sport with 

 excellent advice have been written. A few hints, however, for 

 the benefit of those who have not read the books I refer to 

 may not be amiss. The following is my ideal battery, and for 

 sport in Burma it is in my opinion most suitable. 



(i) A double hammerless 8-bore "Paradox," by Messrs. 

 Holland and Holland, burning 8 to 10 drams of powder, 

 top lever action, for use upon big game, such as elephant, 

 rhinoceros, gaur, tsine, or wild cattle. 



,(2) A double hammerless 12-bore "Paradox," burning 4 

 drams, for snap-shots and while driving for thin-skinned 

 animals, such as tiger, leopard, bear, sambur, etc. 



(3) A double hammerless -256 Mannlicher for hill shooting 

 and long shots, or double hammerless '303. 



(4) A double hammerless 12-bore shot-gun. 



The low trajectory, accuracy, absence of smoke, recoil, and 

 great penetration of the Mannlicher is something marvellous. 

 A small bore like the '256 or '303 is all very well when picked 

 shots are obtained in fairly open ground, such as tree or 

 bamboo forest, where the sportsman has been able to approach 

 in an easy, cool, collected manner to within say 15 or 20 

 yards of an animal. He is then enabled to place his bullet 

 in a fatal spot. The advantage of an immediate retreat 

 behind a tree or bamboo clump in case of failure or a charge 

 is also available. It would be a very different matter, on the 

 other hand, should he, after a hard climb up a steep ridge of 

 say a mile or so through a patch of low dwarf bamboos or 

 "kaing" grass, suddenly find himself face to face with either a 

 solitary bull elephant, gaur, or wild bull. The -256 or -303 

 would be of little use to him in the breathless trembling 

 condition he wculd then be in. It is in a case of this sort that 

 the heavy rifle, such as an 8-bore "Paradox," acts as a stopper. 



