208 EXTINCT BRITISH ANIMALS. 



directed that all woods that had been taken in, or, 

 as it was termed, afforested, to the prejudice of the 

 owners, should be disafforested, and no more addi- 

 tions were to be made. Still further concessions on 

 this score were made by Edward I. 



From this time it may be said that the presence 

 of ferocious animals in this country was no longer 

 tolerated. They were slain wherever and whenever 

 they could be found, and only managed to survive 

 in reduced numbers, for some few centuries longer, 

 in consequence of the utter impossibility of dislodging 

 them from the almost impenetrable forests and moun- 

 tain fastnesses to which they were driven. Later on, 

 when large tracts of forests were purposely cut down 

 or burned for the purpose of expelling these animals, 

 and statutes were put in force which rewarded 

 the slayers of them, their extermination was finally 

 accomplished. 



Another cause which has doubtless contributed in 

 no slight degree to the extinction of the above-men- 

 tioned animals, is the insular character of the country 

 which they inhabited. 



As civilization advanced, as forests were cut down, 

 mosses drained and moorlands cultivated, they were 

 driven further and further away, until finally their 

 retreat was cut off by the sea. Unable to retire beyond 

 so irresistible a barrier, they gradually succumbed to 

 the attacks of their pursuers, or to the altered condi- 

 tions of life, which deprived them per force of the 

 means of existence. We have seen how fully this 

 is exemplified in the case of the reindeer, whose last 



