MID-DAY MEDITATION 271 



view of the river, both up and down-stream for miles, and 

 on a clear night its waters rolled past to within 20 yards of 

 my steps, with a shimmer and a sheen, beautiful, and far sur- 

 passing my powers of description. Across the river again, 

 whilst I am leaning on the rail of my verandah in a medita- 

 tive mood, with my eyes fixed on the lo\y, rugged, dark range 

 of scantily wooded hills which skirt the river within the juris- 

 diction of the Shwebo district, the sharp distinct bark of the 

 " ghee " or barking deer, and the startled bell of the sambur 

 or rusa deer as he starts away from the near proximity of the 

 dreaded midnight prowler, who spares neither man nor beast, 

 may also be heard floating across the river. The rasping 

 " waugh, waugh " of the prowling leopard as he stalks forth to 

 find his midnight meal is also wafted across through the 

 stillness of the night. All these sounds, reader, Nature's 

 music, are greedily drunk in by all of the same craft as my- 

 self. Glorious bags of snipe and shooting of all kinds may 

 also be had at nearly all the stations where the steamer stops 

 en route. There are numerous inland lakes, off the river a 

 short distance, caused for the most part by an overflow of the 

 river's banks during the rainy season, or an old diverted 

 course of the river, where geese, duck, and teal abound in 

 amazing numbers ; snipe are also very plentiful along the 

 banks and in the surrounding paddy fields. I have often, 

 without exaggeration, seen hundreds of these birds, when out 

 shooting on one of these lakes, and have never come away 

 without having got a mixed bag of at least twenty to thirty 

 brace. One of the lakes or sheets of water I refer to is 

 situated about thirty miles above Tagaung, and within a mile 

 of a village named Kyetta-gaung, which is accessible to 

 steamers, being situated on the left bank of the river. The 

 best time for duck, geese, teal, etc. in Upper Burma is from 

 November to January. The snipe season begins in Septem- 

 ber and continues till December or January. The following 

 numerous varieties of feathered game abound in nearly every 

 district of both Upper and Lower Burma. Green and im- 

 perial pigeons, several varieties of doves, peacocks, and 

 pheasant, jungle fowl, partridges two or three varieties, quail, 

 plover, woodcock, snipe, whistling and cotton teal, godwit, 



