10 BIG-GAME SHOOTING IN UPPER BURMA 



have mistaken him for another elephant, and I 

 might find after all that I had shot a woithless 

 ' hine ' or tuskless male. At the imminent risk 

 of discovery, I edged away to try and get a view 

 of his head behind the cow. At this moment 

 the cow threw up her trunk. I had a fleeting 

 glimpse of a magnificent tusk, which seemed to 

 my excited imagination even bigger than I after- 

 wards found it to be. The next moment her 

 trunk was down again, but I had seen all I 

 wanted to, and crept back again to my former 

 position. I did not dare to try for the earhole, 

 as this would have necessitated getting level 

 with the eye of the cow, who must then have 

 seen me. Slowly I raised the rifle. The silence 

 was intense. I could hear my heart thumping 

 loudly beneath my shirt. The great ears of the 

 bull came forward, exposing the fatal spot 

 behind the ear, but the next second, with a 

 resounding flap, they were back again. Again 

 they flapped to and fro, without giving me a 

 moment in which to take aim. This would never 

 do. It could only be a matter of seconds before 

 I was discovered, and then good-bye to the chance 

 of a lifetime. I determined to fire the instant 

 the ears again went forward, and breathlessly 

 waited for a movement. There they go again. 

 Now or never ! Bang ! At the shot the bull 

 and cow wheeled round as on a pivot, and rushed 

 off trumpeting loudly. Quick as they were, 

 the rest of the elephants had a start of them. 



