192 REPORT OF ONTARIO GAME No. 52 



with reasonable frequency, which in general they do not, and come in 

 the nature of a surprise, the object of the visits would be known to one 

 and all, steps would be taken to conceal all traces of malefactions, and 

 only food of an unimpeachable character would appear on the tables dur- 

 ing the overseer's stay. In fact it would seem that where such infrac- 

 tions of the law occur some steps are, as a rule, taken to guard against 

 surprise or detection, such as keeping a supply of beef on hand and' con- 

 cealing the deer or moose meat at some little distance from the camp. 

 There can be no question that it is imperative to put a stop to these 

 practices, and the most feasible means would appear to be to employ a 

 certain number of specially selected men, who would habitually seek em- 

 ployment in the woods, to engage in suspected camps; work there and 

 acquire the necessary information; leave, having done so, on some such 

 pretext as would actuate the ordinary lumber-jack ; and, returning to 

 civilization, place the information in the hands of the nearest overseer 

 or magistrate, so that it could be acted upon and the offenders indicted 

 without, as a rule, connecting the informant with the detection of the 

 crime. It would seem, also, that where these practices could be brought 

 home to the offending parties a very heavy fine should be inflicted on 

 them, in addition to the ordinary fine for the illegal destruction of each 

 separate animal. Undoubtedly if such measures were put into force a 

 great saving of game would be effected annually to the advantage of the 

 Province. 



The Settler in Relation to Game, 



A most difficult and vexed question is that of the rights and privi- 

 leges of the settler in regard to game. There can be no question that the 

 primary function of game in all wild countries is to supply food to the 

 natives inhabiting it or to the pioneers opening it up. As a rule during 

 the latter process there is a tendency to reckless waste, and it cannot 

 be said that the experiences of Ontario have furnished any exception to 

 the general rule. In consequence the inevitable result has ensued, even 

 in those districts which are as yet still but very sparsely populated, 

 namely, that the quantity of game of all descriptions has materially 

 diminished. It would, however, be impossible to blame the early settlers 

 in a new land for their prodigality, for theirs is an unusual and, in many 

 instances, a hard life, game a necessity of existence and hunting the 

 habitual form of recreation, while the very abundance of the game tends 

 to obliterate their faculty for perceiving that the day of reckoning in 

 depleted quantities of game must eventually arrive, or even of themselves 

 acknowledging that the diminution is taking place after it has already 

 become only too apparent. 



In a country developing in civilization and increasing in popula- 

 tion the pioneer settler still performs a service to the public which it 

 is hard to estimate at its intrinsic value. New country is broken up, 



