The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-04-06

ETOHa Hle LOhuoh times.
arAt US sleep here" Thus my Karen
,,tsr addresses me as we emerge from the
+,nris upon a stretch of hard dry sand
rbch forms the beach of a shallow pool
ft By the last rains.
We we're in pursuit Of a bison which
had wounded early in the afternoon. For
r,ors than four hours Bah %, the Karen.
had tracked him by the drops and splashes
ofblood which stained the leaves through
which the animal had pressed his way; but
row darkness was closing in upon u.s. and, re-
,rctant as was to abandon the chase, the
impossibility of seeing the blood marks
compelled me to give it up for the night.
Indeed. we were fortunate TO come thus
opportunely upon a suitable camping
ground before nightfall. In those regions
We know not the delightful twilight through
which day nlelts into night in more north
srn climates. Hardly has the sun gone 10
rest ere the moon assumes her sway with "a
haste that is almost weird.
at is good" answered, briefly, and Bah
90 throws down my blanket and busies
himself with the preparations for making a
fire Up here on the higher slopes of the
Arracan Yumas the December nights are
cold, and my thoughts travel wistfully back
TO last nights camp. where my flannel
clothing and rugs are lying in readiness for
their owners return. The present prospects
are not cheering Bah 90 has q joint of
bamboo filled with coal boiled rice, and
have pocket full of broken biscuits-these
are all our supplies until we get back to the
rest of the party; and as intend to follow
the bison until we cme up to him or lose
trace of his path, we must husband our re-
sources carefully.
"To-morrow we shall find him." saws
Bah %. confidently, as he lights his
queerly-shaped bamboo pipe with a burn
ing stick. There is much blood. You
shall kill him." and he mods reassuringly at
me across the fire.
The simple speech and the derk-skinned,
sturdy form of the speaker often rise to my
memory now. "You shall kill KIM" Yes.
| was to kill kim, but not before he had
killed the pluckiest man Of the braVest race
in burma.
The night was very still; the fitful light
Of the fire danced upon the rising columns
Of smoke, and shone upon the overhanging
foliage Of the gigantic trees around us. The
bark of deer or the call of a night-bird
served to emphasize our loneliness; and be
fore we lay down to sleep we took care to
pile enough wood on the fire to keep it
alive until we'll on into the night; for nu-
merous tiger pugs upon the sand told US that
our lodging was not too secure. We had
been afoot since dayDreak, and might have
as hard days work Tomorrow for aught
we knew; and for my part slept under the
starlit sky a sleep as unbroken as though l
had been in my bed at home.
The tree crickets are chirping the last bars
Of the song they have been singing all night,
when open my eyesi1 the morning. There
is no sign of dawn vet; but it will come be-
fore long, almost as suddenly as did the
ulght. Bah % Is still slumbering peacefully
under his pulsoe beside the black embers of
the fire, regardless Of the heavy dews, from
which l and nv rifle have been protected
by an English bla ket. l have had a wash
in the dark-looking pool, and am drawing
the sponge through my rifle barrels. to
disIodge any lurking particles of sand which
may have found their way into them, when
Bah 90 awakens He does not stretch him
self and yawn as civilized sleeper might,
he rolls into an upright posture, twists his
long hair into a knot, and folds the cotton
puisoe, which is his single garment, round
his waist. He has all his wits about him at
once, and looks around for the bamboo
receptacle which contains his food. "In
betel-chew" about fifteen minutes) sit will
be day." he says.
when we can see we must 60" remark,
sitting down on stone to eat few mouth
fuls Of biscuit.
Bah 90 and are old friends, but as we
carry on our conversation in Burmese,
language almost as reign TO him as to
myself, our observations are comparatively
brief and few.
The birds are beginning to clear their
throats for their morning hymn as the
Karen, dab in hand, leads the way into the
forest The SUMS rays are Just catching the
highest branches Of the teek trees but
gloomy twilight still reigus below, and when
we find the track Of our quarry we get on
but slowly for the first half hour. Every
leaf aid spray is heavily charged with dew,
and soon | am wet to the skim but we
worked our way easily on ward, encouraged
by the blood marks, which now lie thick
and close together. We are travelling west
ward, and by-and-by find ourselves over
looking the distant Bay of Bengal, across
an undulating prairie of varied green. The
sun Is up, aud we get on more rapidly; the
bison has taken a sandy path which runs
along the top of steep, almost
perpendicular bank. We do not require
the aid Of the blood track now; the sand
bears the huge creatures slots so clearly
shat the Karen breaks into the peculiar
scuttling run he affects when engaged in
pursuit of game. Presently he pauses and
points to bitten stem of elephant grass
from which the juice is still flowing. He
does not look round, and as acknowledged
the silently given hint by touching his
shoulder, he starts OFT again.
For nesrly an hour we traverse the path
without turning to the right or left 1t
leads US through teak Jungle and thick
underground, aud my heart beats faster
than usual as l look round and speculate on
the risks we must run in tracking wound
ed bison in such cover as this. Suddenly,
Bah 90 crouches, comes to a dead stop, and
spreads his baud out behind him. This sig
nal means look out; and obey it by wiping
the glistening dew drops from my rife
sights, and sweeping away the curtain of cob
webs which hang from the broad bricl of my
nat look over the head Of my guide, but
see nothing; he looks around, and having
caught my eyes, directs my attention with
a slight nod TO huge tree With roots at
tne outtresses of q village church, then he
takes oae long step backward, clutches his
knee, and points a finger, trembling with
excitement, to q clump Of bushes ten PAGES
N front. dropped on my knees and look;
after half minutes careful survey see
tne stout foreleg, black in front and gray
oehind. which Bah Oo's trained eye detected
IN moment. l touch the Karen on the
shoulder and rise to my feet. while he noise
ieSsly vanishes behind the roots of the tree
ne had selected for cover. 1t is not an agree
aole shot; ten PAGES is too close to be pleas
ant whel the game is a wounded bison and
Tue weapon 500 Express. / must make
guess at the whereabouts of the animals
shoulder, for dare not risk attracting his
attention by moving through the bushes to