68 BIG-GAME SHOOTING IN UPPER BURMA 



Young bison calves are of a bright chestnut 

 colour, and look very funny trotting alongside 

 a herd of huge black animals. The dorsal 

 ridge is distinct even at birth, or very shortly 

 afterwards, and appears to grow very rapidly. 



When feeding, bison move along fairly fast. 

 They are not, however, such rapid walkers as 

 tsaing. Supposing overnight tracks to have 

 been found early in the morning, the animal 

 ought to be overtaken with any luck in from 

 four to five hours' time. If fresh tracks are 

 struck, a bison can often be shot within an 

 hour of being followed. Here, again, so much 

 depends on one's trackers. A good man will 

 know at once the approximate date of a track. 

 A poor tracker will often follow a trail two 

 days old or more, and will only find out his 

 mistake after going several miles. I may here 

 remark that though there is no mistaking an 

 absolutely fresh track, it is often difficult to 

 decide the date of one which is twelve hours 

 old or more. This is especially the case when 

 the ground is moist from recent rain. A leaf 

 trampled on may be twenty-four hours old, 

 but owing to the damp it is as green and fresh 

 as if the bison had only just walked over it. 

 This is where a poor tracker generally makes 

 a mistake. Then, again, in the hot weather the 

 stalks of grass which have been browsed on 

 dry up, and turn yellow in a few hours under 



