340 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



tame animal in Regent's Park utter a prolonged call not very 

 unlike the lowing of Bos taurus, but utterly unlike the lowing 

 of Bos indicus" 



I trust I shall be excused for giving in full Blandford's 

 description of the gaur and its habits, etc. I have done so in 

 order that I may compare my own experiences, acquired 

 through having shot on foot some twenty-five bulls, with the 

 observations published by him. 



Having lived and spent most of my short leave in a part of 

 the country (the Ruby Mines district of Upper Burma) where 

 these animals roam about in large herds numbering in some 

 cases as many as thirty animals, I had many opportunities of 

 studying their habits, haunts, and peculiarities. 



The gaur is usually known under the misnomer of bison, 

 but is not to be confused with the American, which in point 

 of size and appearance is quite an insignificant animal 

 compared with the Indian gaur ; an old bull is, in my opinion, 

 one of the grandest and noblest prizes that can fall to the 

 rifle of any sportsman. 



It shall be my endeavour in this chapter to relate, for the 

 benefit of those who intend hunting gaur, detailed accounts of 

 the death of some six or seven of the largest solitary bulls 

 shot by me. 1 I hope on the other hand that I may be excused 

 if, to some of my readers, these narratives should have an 

 appearance of baldness and similarity about them, which is, 

 however, a sine qua non when one is relating true statements 

 of facts taken from diaries written on the spot. 



The first gaur I ever saw was one that had been shot by a 

 hunter of mine, Moung Yan Gin, whilst we were tracking up 

 a herd ; I remember how annoyed I was with him, and very 

 naturally too. Moung Hpe, my favourite shikarie, was also 

 with us at the time. We had struck the fresh tracks of a 

 herd which led up a steep hill some 500 feet above Saga- 

 daung at the foot of one of the outlying spurs of the 

 Shwe-u-taung range, when somehow or other Moung Yan Gin, 

 who was tracking up a bull on his own account, became 



1 Gaur shooting, principally off elephants, has been described by my 

 colleague, Col. Pollok, who has shot over one hundred in Burma and 

 India. 



