HUNTING AND FISHING, 193 



fence, and deer and antelope will clear most obstacles that can be 

 put up to stop them. Limitation of their numbers is, therefore, 

 in the interests of all. Their total annihilation ■would be a mistake, 

 for by their presence the ravages of the large beasts of prey 

 amongst men and live-stock are restricted, and they supply a large 

 part of the population with meat, and provide an innocent and 

 absorbing pastime, than which nothing better can be conceived for 

 developing sense of locality, powers of observation, capacity for 

 endurance, fertility of resource, self-control, and promptitude of 

 judgment. Moreover, the right of hunting them may be sold for 

 a sum of money large enough to more than cover the risks arisin'g 

 from their preservation. In the case of deer and antelope no 

 hunting should be allowed during rutting time, and the killing 

 of females should be forbidden during the entire breeding season, 

 which extends roughly from 1st July of one year to 1st March of 

 the following year. After a careful study of the habits of the 

 animals and the capacity of the forests to yield them food without 

 suffering real harm, the number of full-grown males and females 

 to be preserved in each forest should be fixed, all above this num- 

 ber being considered legitimate quarry.* If the actual numbers 

 are under this minimum, no hunting should be permitted until its 

 figure has been reached. In the case of forests bordered by ex- 

 tensive cultivation, the safety of the fields must also be considered 

 in fixing the head of game to be maintained ; but their ravages will 

 usually be found confined to a very narrow belt of cultivation, and 

 the owners of fields lying within this belt will in any case find 

 their compensation in a lower assessment of land revenue. As 

 regards pigs, they are so prolific that, in the present condition of 

 the country, their numbers can seldom be kept down without the 

 help of one or more large battues a year, in which every neighbour- 

 ing villager should be invited to join. The organisation of such 

 battues will cost no money, as most people will be only too glad 

 to get meat free and enjoy the pleasure of the sport, and every 

 one will do his best to get rid of a pest that ravages his crops. 



(3). The destruction of birds other than game and edible birds 

 should be forbidden, and for these latter a close season should be 

 observed, long enough to allow the young to be sufficiently grown 

 to take care of themselves. The Central Provinces Government, 

 acting on the advice of that accomplished sportsman and naturalist, 

 Mr. R. Thompson, has adopted the following limits for the various 

 game and edible birds : — 



* This may sound unsportsmanlike, but our concern is with the good of the 

 country — forestry iirst, sport afterwards. 



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