SPORT IN EASTERN BENGAL 103 



down in dug-outs to the bazaars in the Chittagong District, 

 returning often with the dug-out piled high with earthen 

 pots, so much in use by the natives for domestic purposes. 

 On sunny hot days the ever present umbrella is also much en 

 evidence on such occasions as the photograph so well depicts. 

 The main portion of the boats in use is the great bole of 

 some forest monarch which has been hollowed out usually 

 by burning. The sides in the bigger boats are built up with 

 planks, thus affording extra accommodation. 



It is far from easy to discuss the game problem in this 

 part of India, so far as the abundance of animals is in 

 question. Some animals, rhinoceros and buffalo to wit, have 

 disappeared from the area. In the great tracts of forest 

 stretching down east into the North Arakan District 

 a few rhinoceros may still be left. I saw the pugs of one or 

 two on the borders of that country on the occasion of a 

 trip I made that way, but that was the only time I saw any 

 sign of this animal in that part of the world. 



The Chittagong Division is a very densely populated 

 part of India with 676 head of population per square 

 mile, and the isolated patches of forest, consisting princi- 

 pally of bamboos and grass, contained practically no game 

 animals. They had been exterminated by the neighbouring 

 villagers by shooting, snaring or trapping, even before the 

 more modern rifles made their appearance. These small 

 blocks of forest are, however, valuable from the economic 

 point of view, since both bamboos and grass are necessities 

 to the villagers, forming their chief house-building material. 

 In the great dense forests of the Chittagong Hill Tracts to 

 the north, animals roamed at will probably as numerous 

 as they had ever been, with the exception perhaps of the 

 elephant, rhinoceros and buffalo. In this part inhabitants 

 were few and the wandering tribes who were still allowed to 

 practise that most iniquitous method of cultivation called 

 " jhuming," had probably httle influence upon the decrease 

 of game animals with the exception of such shy beasts as the 

 rhino. Jhuming, the oldest form of agriculture known 

 (in Europe as well as in the East, for it is still practised in 

 parts of Russia), consists of feUing a piece of primeval 

 forest, setting fire to the trees felled and burning as much of 

 them as possible, spreading the resultant ashes over the 

 cleared area and sowing the seed of a grain crop on top. 

 The jhumer then squats down on his hams, smokes his 



