262 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



One need not necessarily burn straight powder, as the shock 

 received anywhere by an animal of a 4 or 2 ounce ball 

 driven by 10 or 12 drams of powder, would either floor 

 or, at any rate, astonish an animal and induce it to change 

 the direction of its charge, whereas the effects of the small- 

 bore bullet, owing to the minuteness of the wound and the 

 consequent absence of shock, is not felt soon enough to 

 prevent a charge, unless of course, as I have already said, the 

 animal has been struck in a vital spot. An 8 or 4-bore is 

 therefore an indispensable adjunct to the battery of every 

 sportsman who intends shooting big game in Burma on foot, 

 as animals such as gaur, elephants, rhino, and tsine have very 

 often to be followed up into thickets, especially in the case 

 of old solitary bulls, a charge from which, if not met by a 

 good knock-down blow, is very often made good to the detri- 

 ment and danger of the sportsman. A heavy rifle need not 

 be carried by the sportsman till he is about to use it upon an 

 animal (I think the sportsman should never be without a 

 weapon ready for use F. T. P.) one's gun-bearers do all that. 

 And as for kicking, heavy weapons are built in proportion to 

 the charge used, and in the heat of the moment one really 

 never feels that the rifle has gone off at all. I often fired, 

 within the space of five minutes, fifteen or twenty shots from 

 an 8-bore, burning 10 drams of powder, and never felt any 

 recoil. Should the sportsman, however, require anti-recoil 

 pads, indiarubber air-cushions for the butt and cheek are 

 made and fixed permanently on to the rifle by Messrs. 

 J. and W. Tolley, Conduit Street, London, at a small cost. 

 Should the sportsman already have a battery of hammer 

 rifles, he should see that all safety-catches be done away with, 

 as they are a nuisance and quite unnecessary. See that all 

 your rifles for large and dangerous game are double; the 

 danger of a misfire is a fatal objection to single-barrelled 

 weapons. Rifle-cases should be well lined with at least a 

 quarter of an inch of felt, and each case should have a strong 

 waterproof canvas cover to keep the damp out and prevent it 

 from being knocked about. 



See that your rifles fit tightly into their cases, as they get 

 shaken about a good deal in transit' on the backs of mules or 



