212 MODERN PIG-STICKING 



Your best ranges of covers will need chowkidars 

 on them. Local men are useless for this : they 

 take bribes, and are not strong enough to resist 

 pressure. Pensioned sowars or native drivers are 

 also certain to take bribes, but they will be more 

 satisfactory. Men actually serving, if they can 

 be relieved sufficiently often to be obtainable, 

 probably produce the best results. 



If the villagers' crops are being damaged by pig 

 you must protect them, killing sows if absolutely 

 necessary. I am no believer in the " riding barren 

 sows always " theory. Having taken these steps 

 you may approach your Collector with a light heart 

 and ask him to reduce the number of gun licenses ; 

 unless he does this you will never succeed in 

 preserving. 



India is now becoming so cultivated that both 

 Collector and Local Government are likely to lend 

 a favourable ear to any representations you may 

 make, on the grounds of preservation of grazing 

 land, against the ploughing up of new areas of jungle 

 grass. In good seasons cattle live with difficulty. 

 In bad seasons, without the grass lands which these 

 short-sighted people want to plough, the cattle die. 



In the chapter on " Pig " I have written on the 

 subject of natural or artificial sanctuaries, and the 

 necessity for them. 



If you have no such natural preserves you must 

 acquire land and make them. This is not so 

 expensive an undertaking as it seems. If you have 

 cultivated the right spirit among your native land- 

 owners they will, to a large extent, give you free 

 and generous help. If they know that the authori- 

 ties look with a favourable eye on the sport they 

 will help even the more readily. Sir John Hewett, 



