292 DIARY OF A SPORTSMAN NATURALIST 



and semi-tropical forests and lands on the ground his 

 opinion is at least worthy of careful consideration. 



There still remains, then, the problem of carrying the 

 preservation of animals the one stage further to include the 

 whole fauna in a word, the formation of Fauna Sanctuaries. 

 Their creation so as to include some of the most interesting 

 of the fauna is still possible in India, e.g., in that fascinating 

 tract stretching from Assam down into Burma. 



I am so entirely in sympathy with Dr. Mitchell's opinions 

 on this question that I will quote his concluding remarks 

 before the Association. 



" There are in all the great continents large tracts almost 

 empty of resident population, which still contain vegetation 

 almost undisturbed by the ravages of man and which still 

 harbour a multitude of small animals, and could afford 

 space for the larger and better-known animals. These 

 tracts have not yet been brought under cultivation, and 

 are rarely traversed except by the sportsman, the explorer, 

 and the prospector. On these there should be established, 

 in all the characteristic faunistic areas, reservations which 

 should not be merely temporary recuperating grounds for 

 harassed game, but absolute Sanctuaries. Under no con- 

 dition should they be opened to the sportsman. No gun 

 should be fired, no animal slaughtered or captured save by 

 the direct authority of the wardens of the Sanctuaries, for 

 the removal of noxious individuals, the controlling of 

 species that were increasing beyond reason, the extirpation 

 of diseased or unhealthy animals. The obvious examples 

 are not the game reserves of the Old World, but the National 

 Parks of the New World and of Australasia. In the United 

 States, for instance, there are now the Yellowstone National 

 Park with over two million acres, the Yosemite in California 

 with nearly a million acres, the Grand Canon Game Preserve, 

 with two million acres, the Mount Olympus National 

 Monument in Washington with over half a million acres, as 

 well as a number of smaller reserves for special purposes, and 

 a chain of coastal areas all round the shores for the preserva- 

 tion of birds. In Canada, in Alberta, there are the Rocky 

 Mountains Park, the Yoho Park, Glacier Park, and Jasper 

 Park, together extending to over nine million acres, whilst 

 in British Columbia there are smaller Sanctuaries. These, 

 so far as laws can make them, are inalienable and inviolable 

 Sanctuaries for wild animals. We ought to have similar 



