THE INDIAN ELEPHANT 17 



probably spread right across the tracks of the 

 animal you are following. This is always a 

 nuisance. The trackers, who are all right after 

 bison, don't in the least fancy close quarters 

 with a herd of elephants, and the trouble is to 

 get past. Apart from everything else, a Burman 

 is a very child for curiosity, and even if not 

 actually afraid to pass the elephants, he will 

 think nothing of wasting half an hour or more 

 watching the herd feeding at a safe distance, 

 while all the time your bison is getting farther 

 and farther away. By the time you have got 

 past, the tracks of the bison will possibly have 

 been lost, or, what amounts to the same thing, 

 have been trampled over by the elephants, so 

 that they cannot be distinguished. 



But revenons A nos moutons. Many of my 

 readers will want to know how to set about 

 shooting elephants in Burma. They will want 

 to know the best time of year in which to shoot, 

 and the best districts to go to. Those who are 

 new to the sport may wish to know also how 

 to find the big tusker in a herd, and the best 

 weapon to slay him with. I will endeavour to 

 put myself in the place of a man new both to 

 Burma and to elephants, and to give him such 

 information as my own experience suggests 

 as likely to help him. With regard, then, to 

 weapons, I recommend a D.B. high-velocity 

 450-400 rifle. I have given my reasons for 

 doing so in the chapter on rifles at the end of 



