158 BIG-GAME SHOOTING IN UPPER BURMA 



beasts potted from a bullock-cart. They are 

 so used to villagers driving their carts along the 

 tracts which intersect their feeding-grounds in 

 all directions that, unless much shot at, they 

 will stand and stare while the cart, perhaps, gets 

 to within twenty yards of the unsuspecting 

 creatures. No wonder many of them are killed ! 

 Personally, I don't like the bullock-cart method, 

 and as, owing to the thick scrub, it is frequently 

 impossible to get near them on foot, I combine 

 the three methods of pony-back, bullock-cart 

 and stalking, and find I get quite enough legiti- 

 mate shooting to satisfy my wants. My plan is 

 as follows. I take a bullock-cart, which goes on a 

 little ahead of me, while I ride a confidential ' tat ' 

 in the rear. I find, from the advantage in height 

 which riding confers, that one is often able to 

 spot a herd before the occupants of the cart can 

 possibly see it. They have, however, the advan- 

 tage of being in front. As soon as the deer 

 are seen, a Burman gets out of the cart and 

 walks beside the pony. As I get within a 

 couple of hundred yards or so, I take advantage 

 of a bush to slip off my pony and hand it to 

 the Burman, with instructions to follow the 

 cart at about 200 yards' distance. It is often 

 lost to his view, but Burmans are good at 

 following wheel-tracks, and never seem to miss 

 the way. I then walk on the off-side of the 

 cart, and when I get within a hundred yards or 



