160 JOURNAL, BOMB A Y NA TURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIV. 



In this case the animals would have no difficulty in obtaining a daily supply 

 of water. No doubt there are deserts in Sind and Bikanir where animals go 

 for considerable periods without. water. But the results of my observation 

 convince me that where water is obtainable all animals in India drink every 

 day. 



R. G. BURTON. 

 (The above appeared m the *' Field.") 



No, XIV.— ELEPHANT SHOOTING IN UPPER BURMA. 



South-East of Katha, Upper Burma, lies a delta formed by the junction 

 of the Irrawaddy and one of its large tributaries the Shweli, 



Viewed from the high bank of the river on the Katha side, the prospect is 

 somewhat uninviting ; the delta has no Government forest reserves, and 

 consists chiefly of low-lying areas, sparsely cultivated here and there, but 

 mostly abandoned to wilderness of giant grass 10 feet high, known in the 

 vernacular as khine. 



The delta is intersected by one main and several branch creeks connecting 

 the Irrawaddy and the Shweli, along whose tree-shaded banks are numerous 

 picturesque villages. Further inland there are considerable forest areas 

 covering the higher elevations, but the main factor of the locality is khine, 

 and its concomitants elephants, tigers, sambur and wild pig. 



It was here, " owing to that excellent institution privilege leave, and the 

 "courtesy of the Deputy Commissioner of Katha" that I found myself during 

 part of April and May, under the guidance of an experienced Burmese track- 

 er, to be initiated in the highly exciting and interesting sport of elephant 

 shooting, 



Of the danger of following and shooting elephants in khine there appears 

 to be a consensus of opinion among certain well-known sportsmen in Burma, 

 and as a tyro, I am precluded from expressing an opinion, but after practi- 

 cally living in khine for a month, I can only say, I was never charged in it. 

 I saw one big stampede, and was stampeded myself at 10 yards by a herd of 

 not less than thirty. Danger there is no doubt, but it is very largely dis- 

 counted by the knowledge and tactics of an experienced tracker, who knows 

 when and where to approach the animals. My chief objection is the terrible 

 hard work, and the difficulty of eliminating a tusker from the herd, coupled 

 with the necessity of negotiating the less desirable but certainly more danger- 

 ous female, or tuskless male, when they present themselves. 



Without detailing the numerous and various stages of funk through which 

 I passed duriog my novitiate, or the failure to find the fatal spot at the 

 psychological moment, when the long sought quarry did present itself at the 

 familiar distance of 15 or 20 yards in the khine, I pass on to the more pleasing 

 subject of my first tusker. 



