INSECT INTRUDERS. 



law, might I suggest to the authorities 

 that a small portion of the money that will 

 soon beannually allotted for the purpose of 

 preservation be devoted to the eviction of 

 the bees of the Ajanta caves ? This would 

 simply mean a trifling amount spent in 

 wages to Imam, the bee-hunter, if he is 

 still alive and active or to his successors 

 if he is dead. It is not every day or in 

 every country that one can see paintings 

 seventeen hundred years old, and it 

 will be indeed a pity if the present oppor- 

 tunity be not taken for establishing the 

 periodical ejection of the bees and bats 

 of Ajanta, on the two-fold grounds of 

 preserving the paintings and ensuring 

 the safety of sight-seers ; while as for the 

 * barbarians ' they will soon have 

 become creatures of the past." 



The Anglo-Indian shikari might, by 

 the way, think over the tip of the iron 

 mask and leather gauntlets !! 



The big bee appears to be common all 

 over the country and goes up to over 

 152 



