3 oo WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



having slain his first tusker in Burma. I jokingly said to him, 

 that I hoped he had not shot the elephant I had fired at and 

 floored. 



Next day, A, D, and myself visited the spot, accompanied 

 by our trackers. The elephant was lying in a kneeling 

 posture with both tusks driven deep into the ground. It 

 was impossible to tell from an examination of the bullet- 

 holes in the animal's head whether any of the shots had 

 been fired by my 8-bore or by D's 12-bore rifle, or the 10 

 smooth-bore which he was using, as the skin had contracted 

 and the holes appeared exactly alike. I made my hunters 

 take on yesterday's tracks, and after an absence of about 

 three-quarters of an hour they returned, having taken up the 

 trail right up to the spot where D had first fired at the 

 elephant. Poor D would at first hardly believe me when I 

 told him that the elephant now lying dead before us was in 

 reality the one I had wounded. I knew, however, that my 

 trackers would never have played me false over such a serious 

 matter simply to curry favour, so I suggested cutting out the 

 bullets, which we did ; and after a great deal of labour, one 

 of my 8-bore, solid, hardened, spherical bullets was to D's 

 utter astonishment and disgust then brought to light. A, who 

 was rather incredulous, suggested weighing the bullet ; D 

 was, however, quite convinced that it was mine, and although 

 it had been very much knocked out of shape, the lead was all 

 there, and it certainly presented the appearance of having at 

 one time been an 8-bore spherical ball. 



The rule amongst sportsmen is, that the animal belongs to 

 the one who first draws its blood, so long as he sticks to it 

 and follows it up till he kills it ; should he relinquish the chase, 

 however, and give up the animal as lost, then any other sports- 

 man would be entitled to shoot. I then proposed to D, who 

 had naturally by this time become very crestfallen, that we 

 should split the difference by taking a tusk each, although I 

 suppose both tusks rightfully belonged to me. D made no 

 demur, but assented to this proposal. The rightful ownership 

 of these tusks was, as I have already said, afterwards made the 

 subject of many a heated argument, and I was often told I had 

 no right to them. This may or may not be the case as it 



