4 i 6 WILD SPORTS OF BURMA AND ASSAM 



To see him attempt to bring his gun to his shoulder and 

 immediately lower it again, bobbing and squirming about 

 while endeavouring to crush the insects which were stinging 

 his bare legs and thighs, was, to say the least of it, extremely 

 funny. The bear was an old veteran with hardly a sound 

 tooth in his head, and his skull now adorns my room along 

 with other trophies of the chase. 



I will now describe some incidents which occurred in the 

 Akyab district, and request my reader to accompany me 

 at least in the spirit to these well-known and much-appre- 

 ciated hunting-grounds ; if later on he should be tempted 

 to venture there in the body, he need only step on board 

 a B. I. steamer at Rangoon, and in three days he will 

 reach his destination. Steamers for Akyab leave the Boh- 

 ta-taung jetty. In the north-east monsoon, from September 

 till May, on Tuesday mornings. In the south-west monsoon, 

 May till September, on Monday mornings. The language 

 of the Arrakanese differs from that of the Burmese, as 

 much as the English language differs from the Scotch. 

 All words ending in ya are pronounced in Burmese as spelt, 

 while in Arrakanese they are transformed into ra. There 

 are many other peculiarities connected with the language 

 which need not be detailed. The better class of Arrakanese 

 are more intelligent than the same class amongst the Burmese. 

 Their general appearance seems to indicate that they have 

 a strain of Indian blood in their veins, and unlike Mongolians 

 they often have heavy hirsute appendages. 



Some very fine snipe shooting may be had in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Akyab, and I am told the birds arrive there 

 before appearing in the Rangoon district. It would perhaps 

 be as well to warn the sportsman that the Akyab district is 

 notoriously feverish and unhealthy. Many Europeans who 

 live there seem to suffer greatly from malarial fever even after 

 a stay of only a few days. The best time of the year to visit 

 Arrakan is November, December, and January, the rainy 

 season being generally over in October. 



Very good leopard, sambur, and barking deer shooting 

 may be had near Kyauktaw, a village in the Akyab district. 

 I shot my first leopard in the neighbourhood of this village 



