7G BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY S")CfETY. 



solely for tlie protection of the forests, because iu the rains there would be no 

 danger as far as fire was concerned. Sportsmen who weut oat shooting were not 

 likely to fire the forests. They had heard of Instances of sportsmen lighting fires to 

 get out of the way of animals, but the instances were far from numerous. The 

 speaker also mentioned that he had in his individual capacity sent in a memorial to 

 the Chief Commissioner, but it had not been replied to. 



Tbe Chairman observed that he did not think they had sufficient information at 



the present moment to justify them in taking any decided action in the matter. la 



his opinion all that they could do was to appoint a Committee to collect information 



on the subject, which could be submitted at a future meeting. He did not believe 



that the rules were framed for th3 purpose of protecting the forests from fire, 



because ample provision for such protection was made in the Forest Act VII. of 



1878. In that Act there appeared to be three kinds c/f forests over which the 



Government exercised a certain amount of protection — namely, reserved forests, 



village forests, and protected forests — and he understood that the rules only applied 



to the first of these — reserved forests. He knew from experience that one conld go 



through a vast tract of country in the Central Provinces without coming upon a 



reserved forest at all, but he believed that of late years- and this was a matter 



which they should inquire into — the policy of Government had been in the direction 



of turning large tracts of country into reserved forests, and probably a great many 



of these tracts had never even been placed under the category of protected forests. 



One of the first things they should do was to ascertain from the proper officials what 



particular forests in the Central Provinces had been declared to be reserved forests. 



His experience was that one always had to get leave to go into reserved forest, and 



from Section 25 of Act VII. of 1878 it was obvious that such permission must be 



obtained and it was also laid down that sportsmen should not allow cattle to trespass 



into the forests, that they could not take a horse into a reserved forest without 



permission, and that they were not to kindle or carry any fire except such as might 



be notified by the officer in charge of the forest. He could not therefore think that 



the rules were framed with the object of protecting the forests from fire, because this 



protection was already provided for, it being laid down that anybody lighting a fiie 



so as to endanger a forest rendered himself liable to six months' imprisonment. 



What he objected in the rules was that they contemplated that one should not enter 



a forest at all, although his camp might be miles away from it, unless permission 



was obtained beforehand. The rules made it necessary that one should specify 



the exact time that he was going to enter the forest and the exact number of shikari 



followers that were going with him, while details also had to be given of every man 



woman, and child who might be connected with the camp. This was impossibly 



for anyone to do. It was absolutely impossible for anybody at the commencement of 



a shooting trip to say how many shikaris should attach themselves to his camp. It 



was, in his opinion, good policy not to discourage any shikari, and he himself never 



dreamed of turning one of them away. If fees were to be charged, the rules should 



be so framed that they should be payable at the end of the trip, when one was in a 



position to give a proper return of the number of followers who had accompanied him. 



The rules, as they stood at present, seemed to lay it down that they were all dishonest 



and accordingly they must pay the fees in advance. He did not see the necessity for 



fees at all. Of course, they would be to the advantage of rich men, because they 



would tend to lessen the shooting in the jungle: but for the great mass of sportsmen 



who had not succeeded in shaking the Pagoda tree, the fees were absolutely prohibi- 



