34 BIG-GAME SHOOTING IN UPPER BURMA 



jungle, and presently approached the spot from 

 which the weird sounds had proceeded. As we 

 were moving along I heard the squelching of 

 muddy water just inside the cover, as if some 

 large animal were having a bath. Cautiously I 

 peered into the thick bush, and caught sight of 

 the hind quarters of an elephant rolling from 

 side to side. The brute was enjoying a mud 

 bath. The Burman got a glimpse of it at the 

 same moment, and calling out ' Sin la de ! sin 

 la de ! ' ('Elephant, elephant, it is coming ! ') took 

 to his heels, and was half way across the plain 

 before one could say Jack Robinson. At the 

 same time there was a noise as of huge corks being 

 drawn from invisible bottles, and I got a momen- 

 tary glimpse of the retreating hind quarters of 

 the elephant. I heard a slight brushing of the 

 jungle about fifty yards away to my left, and a 

 similar sound on my right. This was succeeded 

 by absolute silence. I now realised that we had 

 surprised a herd of elephants. After waiting for 

 a few moments in the expectation of hearing 

 further sounds, I cautiously crept along in the 

 wake of the beast we had surprised, expecting 

 to find it standing waiting for me a few yards 

 farther on. The jungle was abominably thick, 

 being of the wild-rose persuasion, and as I crept 

 along the narrow elephant track, stumbling over 

 creepers every now and then, and being held up 

 by ' wait-a-bit ' thorns every few yards, I found 



