316 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



in possession of a good pair of tusks. I had low jungle- 

 fever on me at the time, and did not feel equal to a long walk. 

 A pony, as I have said before, will always be found most 

 useful in camp should you get knocked up, be laid up with 

 fever, or meet with an accident. I invariably rode to the 

 particular tract of country I intended shooting over, which 

 often lay at a distance of from three to four miles from camp, 

 and then dismounted, thus saving me many a long walk. A 

 riding or transport pony can be taken anywhere over the 

 country throughout either Upper or Lower Burma. Game in 

 Burma cannot of course, like that in Africa, be run down on 

 horseback, the country is not sufficiently open to allow of this 

 style of hunting. My hunter used to give me ample warning 

 when to dismount, by saying, " Sir, you had better get down 

 here, we may see game now at any time," or he might wait 

 till we had struck the fresh trail of a solitary gaur, tsine, 

 elephant, or rhino before asking me to dismount. The pony 

 would then be handed over to a Burman, who would walk 

 behind my tracker and me, keeping us in sight, at a respect- 

 able distance. Fodder in the shape of bamboo leaves, "kaing" 

 grass, known as " doop " grass, may be found pretty nearly all 

 over Burma from July to February. A sack or two of paddy 

 or unhusked rice, upon which all Burman ponies thrive, should 

 always be taken. 



A pony will also be found very useful should the sportsman 

 have covered a long stretch of country, and find that he is 

 unable to return to camp before a late hour. He may then, 

 if he cares to venture, return alone quickly on pony-back. 



This is not always safe, and it might be productive of serious 

 consequences should he take the wrong route and get lost in 

 the jungle. A Burman pony will invariably find his way back 

 to camp alone if left to himself. At any rate, I have done it 

 over and over again, and been in and had a comfortable warm 

 tub and dinner hours before the return of my men. A pony, 

 to know the camp, will naturally require to have been fed 

 there for at least two or three successive days, before his 

 instinct can be relied upon. On several occasions, when 

 some six or seven miles from camp, and having no further use 

 for my pony owing to the dense jungle and undergrowth, I 



