90 BIG-GAME SHOOTING IN UPPER BURMA 



true Oriental optimism, will attempt the im- 

 possible time after time, and, with few excep- 

 tions, never seem to learn by failure. On one 

 occasion, however, the writer did succeed in 

 shooting an old solitary bull tsaing while lying 

 up, but that was in bamboo jungle and under 

 exceptionally favourable circumstances. As an 

 example of the good luck which frequently 

 attends the hunter, the incident may be worth 

 narrating. We were in hilly country in the 

 Chindwin district, frequented alike by bison 

 and tsaing, and had made an early start by 

 candlelight. For some hours we hunted about, 

 but found nothing but old tracks. At last, 

 about 8 a.m., we came on the trail of a solitary 

 bull tsaing which had passed early the day 

 before. The tracks showed that the bull was 

 a good one ; so we took them on without 

 hesitation. They zigzagged about in the most 

 perplexing manner ; but as we could not hope 

 to come up with the beast — or, at all events, 

 to get a shot at him — before the evening, time 

 was not of great consequence. Several times 

 the bull had retraced his steps to browse on 

 some succulent bit of herbage, and had then 

 resumed his original direction. After following 

 the trail for some three hours or so, we found 

 that it crossed those of another solitary beast, 

 whose tracks were about the same date as 

 those we were following. The old adage that 



