3 o8 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



hood of Twinge, one of the police posts under my charge, 

 I got word of a huge tusker elephant which had, according 

 to rumour, been fired at and wounded by Burman hunters, 

 who were still tracking up the animal. As these hunters had 

 all previously been warned by me not to disturb or shoot any 

 of the solitary elephants, gaur, or tsine in the neighbourhood, 

 there being numerous herds upon which they could indent, 

 I was naturally not a little annoyed at their behaviour, more 

 especially as I had promised them " sungwe " (Bur., reward 

 money), and plenty of powder and ball, should they furnish me 

 with information regarding the whereabouts of " solitaires." 



Proceeding to the village of Wapyudaung, which lay within 

 the sphere of my duties and where the hunters lived, I ascer- 

 tained that the rumour was true, and that three of them had 

 come on a huge tusker asleep, in some bamboo jungle about 

 six miles from Wapyudaung, and that while the animal was 

 lying asleep they had fired simultaneously at his head with 

 their old Tower muskets, and then followed up the beast for 

 three successive days without coming up with it, eventually 

 giving up the chase in disgust, as the animal had not shown 

 any signs of being disabled. Whilst en route to Wapyudaung 

 I fortunately met these hunters on their way home on the 

 day of their return from the jungle. They gave me full 

 particulars regarding the locality in which they had relin- 

 quished the tracks, but absolutely refused to accompany me, 

 on the grounds that they were foot-sore and tired, and that 

 there was not much chance of my coming up with the 

 elephant, the direction of whose tracks plainly indicated that 

 it was making for the Shwe-u-taung range of hills. No amount 

 of bribes would induce them to come with me, not even the 

 promise of the value of one tusk, should I bag the animal. 



It would have been quite a different matter if I had had 

 my own hunter, Moung Hpe, with me ; he, however, lived at 

 Sittone, a village distant from Wapyudaung some twenty-five 

 or thirty miles, and could not therefore be sent for to arrive 

 in time to take up the tracks. Eventually, I heard that the 

 thugyi or head-man of the village of Ontabu, situated about 

 nine miles from the village oi Wapyudaung and about three 

 miles from the spot where the hunters had given up following 



