304 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



be felt still farther afield. I cannot say for certain, but 

 there are probably more trophy-collecting agencies like 

 that of Ishnaag in other parts of India. The devastation 

 caused by the marketable value thus placed on heads and 

 skins must be enormous. 



I am afraid that some forest officers will be quite angry 

 with me when I state that, in my opinion, all the laws and 

 regulations they may make, and all the precautions they 

 may take, short of stationing an English gamekeeper at 

 every forest post (and picking their gamekeeper!), will 

 never entirely prevent poaching in reserved forests by the 

 native shikari. It is the gun trade that is at the bottom of 

 all the trouble. Confiscate guns and put a prohibitive tax 

 on powder and caps especially on caps, for native gun- 

 powder is easily produced locally and the root of the 

 trouble will be touched. 



Except in certain localities, where special indulgence 

 might be accorded, cultivators do not suffer much from the 

 depredations of forest game. If the game of India is to 

 be preserved from certain eventual extinction, guns must 

 be taken away and licences given only in very exceptional 

 cases. The illegal possession of a gun, especially on the 

 confines of a reserved forest, should be made a very grave 

 offence, and one involving severe punishment. Many of 

 the guns I have seen in the possession of native shikaris 

 have been uncommonly serviceable weapons (muzzle- 

 loaders on the percussion system), and accurate up to two 

 and three hundred yards very nasty weapons indeed be- 

 hind a mud wall. The question of suppressing guns is no 

 doubt a difficult one. The Native State of Hyderabad in 

 the Deccan is simply full of guns ; and it is from Hyder- 

 abad that guns are sold and distributed throughout neigh- 

 bouring tracts. Something might be done, however, by get- 

 ting a tight hold of the trade in percussion caps. All the caps 

 that one sees are imported ; and lack of caps means many 

 muskets rendered useless, and so many wild animals saved. 



