CLASS MAMMALIA. 41 



some extracts from the churchwardens' accounts of the 

 parishes of St. Peter's and All Saints, Maldon, showing the 

 Badger to have been very common in that borough (which 

 then included some woodland) from the year 1716 to 

 1754, and probably long afterwards. The reward paid for 

 the destruction of this " vermin " appears to have been 

 uniformly a shilling a head, the same sum as was paid for a 

 Fox. 



The quantity of bones of badgers found in exploring the 

 Dene-holes at Grays (Essex Nat., vol. i., p. 257) points to its 

 having formerly been a common animal in that district. 



Within the last few years, two Badgers have been taken in 

 the Colchester district ; and, still more recently, another was 

 caught at Bentley, between Colchester and Harwich. One 

 almost feared that these might be the last survivors of a race 

 which gave much sport to our ancestors or, perhaps, one 

 should say, gave opportunity for the exhibition of much 

 brutality. In my younger days, I saw a few baitings of 

 Badgers caught at South Benfleet, where, in 1844, there were 

 several earths. It did not strike me, however, that any great 

 amount of suffering was inflicted on the Badger. The dogs, 

 especially those new to the work, gave unmistakable evi- 

 dence of their dread of the Badger's jaws. Mr. J. E. Harting 

 quotes (Essex Nat., vol. iii., p. 197) a song from The Sports- 

 man's Vocal Cabinet (1830, p. 136), edited by Charles Armiger, 

 describing the delights of a Badger hunt in Epping Forest. 

 The unfortunate beast was brutally ill-treated when captured. 



Still, the Badger is by no means extinct in Essex. The 

 fortunate preservation of Epping Forest by the Corporation 

 of London has provided a safe retreat for some pairs which 

 Mr. E. N. Buxton introduced into the woods in 1886. Mr. 

 Buxton says (Epping Forest^ 4th Ed., 1897) tnat tnev now 

 occupy a large " holt " in Loughton Manor, and are increasing, 



