POACHING 171 



possession on the highway such game, &c. ; fourthly, 

 that game, &c. should there bey^««(/onhim, i.e. seen, 

 or heard, or felt on him, so as to constitute a finding 

 by the senses of a witness.' 



As pointed out by Mr. Warry, one of the latest 

 writers on the game laws,^ this is the only statute 

 which directly invokes the aid of the police for the 

 protection of game. A constable is authorised under 

 Sections 9, 10 of the Gun Licence Act, 1870, to 

 demand the production of gun licences, and may be 

 asked to assist keepers to effect an arrest under the 

 Game Act, 1831 (Section 31), or the Night Poaching 

 Act, 1828 (Section 2), but the public have generally 

 viewed with disfavour the employment of constables 

 to assist in the preservation of game. In consequence, 

 however, of frequent breaches of the peace and 

 murderous assaults arising from the necessity of 

 arresting poachers, this statute was passed to assist 

 keepers in this respect, that (whether from informa- 

 tion received from them or otherwise) a constable on 

 duty might be enabled to stop and search persons on 

 their return from what he might suspect to be a 

 poaching expedition, and if game was found on them, 

 to lay the same onus on such persons of accounting 



' The Game Laws of England, with an Appendix of the 

 Statutes relating to Game. London, Stevens & Sons, 1896. 



