SHOOTING IN COMPANY 219 



but as a set-off he has many engaging qualities, 

 not the least of which is a frank demeanour 

 which never lapses into the subservience of the 

 native of India. Friendly and courteous, he has 

 the instincts of a gentleman. 



There is one distinct objection to big-game 

 shooting in Burma which I have not touched on. 

 It is that two sportsmen, except when shooting 

 deer and such-like small fry, cannot work together 

 with any reasonable prospect of success. Good 

 trackers, as I have said, are all too scarce; 

 and to find two really capable men in the same 

 village, or even in adjacent villages, is rare 

 indeed. But even if it could be managed, and 

 the two sportsmen separated, each with his own 

 tracker, one of the two would almost certainly 

 have his tramp for nothing, as game is generally 

 located in one direction. And should each, 

 by the greatest good luck, have got on to the 

 trail of separate beasts, a shot fired by one 

 would certainly put to flight the quarry of the 

 other, even if the report were but faintly heard 

 a couple of miles away. The only plan, there- 

 fore, is for two men to take alternate days ; but 

 this, though a better arrangement than the 

 other, is still open to a serious objection. Once 

 a beast is killed in a certain locality, all the 

 animals retreat to a safer spot, alarmed not so 

 much by the report of the shots, as by the 

 party of Burmans arriving next day to cut up 



Q 2 



