60 BIG-GAME SHOOTING IN UPPER BURMA 



men believe in the months of August and 

 September, when the bamboo shoots are sprout- 

 ing. Bison and tsaing feed eagerly on these, 

 and occasionally give themselves away by the 

 loud noise caused by the snapping of the shoots 

 as the animals break them off. But one has to 

 fight against constant rain, which frequently 

 washes out the tracks ; the undergrowth has 

 grown up to the height of a man and higher ; 

 and when you do get up to your beast he is 

 often alarmed before you can get close enough to 

 view him. Also — a minor detail, perhaps, but 

 one which counts — malarial fever is pretty sure 

 to attack you; not severely, maybe, but suffi- 

 ciently to take the stuffing out of you for the 

 time being. Rheumatism, too, will possibly 

 make its appearance ; in fact, Nature will do 

 her little best to bring home to the European 

 the inadvisability — to use no stronger term — of 

 tramping the jungle in the height of the monsoon. 

 Fond, too, as are both bison and tsaing of 

 these same bamboo shoots, it may be many 

 days before the welcome sound of their demoli- 

 tion is heard. I remember once getting up to 

 a bison in August, and actually being within half 

 a dozen yards of him before I could make him 

 out. I managed to bag him only because he 

 was a bison. A tsaing would have given me 

 the slip long before. On the whole, I would 

 advise no one to make a trip after bison or 



