286 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



have received the sanction of the Local Governments, 

 that all licences covering operations within the Government 

 forest area should be issued, the licences controlled, and 

 the revenue collected by the Forest Officer. In the case of 

 the areas lying outside the forests in each District the 

 hcences would be issued and controlled by the Collector 

 The introduction of the universal licence would, moreover, 

 place the Collector in an easier position with reference to 

 the vexed question of the gun licences for the protection of 

 crops. If animals were shot in the crops the village shikari 

 or villager would have to pay the royalty on the horns, 

 skins and flesh of the animals shot, and the sex and age of 

 these animals would be recorded. An effective check would 

 therefore be set up, for strict investigation could be carried 

 out in cases where the records showed an undue number of 

 animals shot on this pretext in any locality or the neigh- 

 bourhood of any village — a check which heretofore has been 

 non-existent. An efficient scheme might well be worked 

 out by the Advisory Officer in the District for the protection 

 of crops which would eliminate once and for all the poach- 

 ing shikari and villager. 



If some simple procedure as the one here sketched were 

 brought into force it would be unnecessary to set up a 

 separate department to deal with the protection of the fauna 

 and to obtain from it the revenue which it should certainly 

 yield. The strengthening of the staffs in some cases might 

 be necessary and officers who are known to have made a 

 close practical study of the fauna of their Province (they 

 would be sportsmen and naturalists and in their own 

 Province would be well known) could be chosen and 

 attached to the various Districts and forest divisions for the 

 purpose of advising and bringing into force the new regime. 

 Where a number of adjoining Districts or forest divisions in 

 a Province have a similar fauna and methods of shooting 

 and poaching, one officer would suffice to deal with the 

 whole area, the revenue derivable being paid into the 

 district or forest division concerned. 



In every case it should be within the power of the Collector 

 or Forest Officer to refuse, or to recommend to a higher 

 authority the refusal, of all licences to kill any mammal, 

 bird or fish whose numbers from whatever cause had so 

 seriously diminished as to lead to the fear that the species 

 might deteriorate or become extinct within the area 



