362 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



little crop from the ravages of the wild beasts, which had looked 

 on the land as a part of their own domain. 



The policy which has been pursued by the English Govern- 

 ment, in attempting to exterminate wild beasts, leaves very little 

 reason to fear that it will permit its new Game Law to be 

 abused, so as to encourage the growth of any noxious animals. 

 On the contrary, if, according to the old fable of iEsop, a council 

 of wild beasts could now be held, it would be for the animals to 

 complain that the English Government had encroached on their 

 rights and privileges in a manner utterly unknown to the original 

 rulers of India. They might plead, that there is no evidence that 

 under any Hindoo or Mahomedan dynasty was there ever a fixed 

 tariff of rewards for the destruction of Lions and Tigers, of 

 Crocodiles and Snakes. They might admit that it was the 

 practice of Oriental monarchs to make large collections of living 

 wild animals in their menageries. The native potentates and 

 their princesses and courtiers delighted in the fights of wild 

 beasts ; whether a Tiger was pitted against a Tiger, or a wild 

 Buffalo fought against a Bhinoceros. The jungles were of course 

 harried and netted to take alive the animals needed for the 

 tyrants' pleasure. But with the English Government it has 

 been made a systematic business to encourage the destruction 

 of all wild beasts. A table of rewards, setting a value on the 

 head of each Tiger and other dangerous animals hangs in every 

 public office and market-place. 



We shall now proceed to explain what has been the object of 

 the Government operations and its system of rewards. In a 

 recent number of the official ' Gazette ' certain figured state- 

 ments have been published with a resolution, recorded by the 

 Viceroy of India on the 22nd November, 1887, reviewing the 

 provincial returns, showing the measures adopted for the exter- 

 mination of wild animals and poisonous Snakes in British India 

 during the year 1886. The Government paid Bs. 189,006 in 

 rewards for the destruction of wild animals and poisonous snakes 

 collectively ; but we shall treat of the snakes separately here- 

 after. The total number of human beings reported as killed by 

 wild animals in 1886 was 2707. Some stress must be laid on 

 the word reported, for it is very possible that many deaths 

 occurred which were not reported to the police, through whose 

 agency these statistics are collected ; whilst, on the other hand, 



