ROUND THE CAMP FIRE 295 



Before proceeding further it would be well to consider 

 the causes to which may be attributed this deplorable toll 

 which is being taken of wild life throughout India. 



To begin with man, the most formidable of the enemies 

 that wild animals have to fear, we find two different types 

 of hunters in the country. 



Firstly, there is the British sportsman a class which, 

 owing to various reasons, seems at least as numerous as 

 ever, if not more so than before, owing to the larger 

 number of Englishmen now resident in or visiting the 

 country. And of him there are varieties. 



Taken in the best sense of the word, the British sports- 

 man, while to a certain extent contributing to the inroads 

 made on wild animals, has apparently little real effect on 

 their numbers. He shoots fairly, and the unwritten laws 

 that regulate his behaviour generally prevent him from 

 taking unfair advantage of game, or affecting its existence 

 by killing females and young of the harmless species. 



Unfortunately there are exceptions to this rule ; and 

 men are to be found who, from no youthful excess of 

 ardour, nor indiscretion born of inexperience, can hardly 

 be persuaded to spare when anything living comes within 

 range of their weapons. 



At the same time it is believed that unsportsmanlike 

 habits are on the wane. 



A particularly harmful period was that about twenty 

 years ago, when the " Express " rifle, then in its infancy, 

 suddenly enabled men to inflict far greater loss on wild 

 animals than they had been capable of carrying out with 

 the less accurate weapons of a former day. It is well 

 known that a great deal of unsportsmanlike shooting 

 mere slaughter, indeed was indulged in then, and up to 

 fairly recent times. The writer is acquainted with a case 

 where two officials of the old school spread destruction 

 abroad in their own district for many years, with dire 

 effect on the game, especially bison and sambar, many 



