282 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



to be found, though in very considerably reduced numbers. At 

 a later period the late Jam of Nawanagar used to shoot Lions in 

 the Barda Hills, but it is long since they have been cleared out 

 of this locality too. A few years ago a family party of Lions, 

 consisting of a fine old Lion, a Lioness, and a cub, found their way 

 into these hills during the monsoon when the crops were high 

 from the Gir — a distance of some eighty miles, and doubtless if 

 they had been left alone would have prospered ; but this was hardly 

 to be expected with the number of armed men roaming about the 

 hills, and before very long the whole family was wiped out. 



" Formerly there was not much fear of the Lions becoming 

 extinct in the Gir Forest, as the latter covered a very much larger 

 area of country than it does now, which, besides being very sparsely 

 populated, was rarely entered by outsiders, who had a wholesome 

 dread of the desperate outlaws who, driven from their homes by 

 the oppression of their native rulers, invariably resorted there. 

 The jungles, too, had a bad reputation for fever, and from want of 

 roads were very difficult of access, so the Lions were left practically 

 undisturbed, and increased and multiplied. With the quieting 

 down of the country everything has much changed by the march 

 of cultivation, the forest has been very much curtailed in area, 

 villages and hamlets have sprung up in every direction, and in the 

 hot weather especially the whole forest is overrun with swarms of 

 cattle and their drivers. 



" In the absence of any game or forest laws, it can readily be 

 imagined what the effect of these improvements has been upon the 

 Lions. Slowly but surely their numbers have been decreasing, 

 and unless some more efficient steps than heretofore are taken for 

 their preservation they will certainly become extinct before the 

 lapse of many years. It is true that the Junagarh Durbar in 

 Kathiawar has issued an order that no Lions are to be shot for a 

 period of six years. This is a step in the right direction, but it 

 is not enough. If the Durbar is really anxious to keep up the breed, 

 it must in addition set apart a suitable tract of forest as a reserve 

 under rules similar to those which obtain in British districts, into 

 which not a soul should be allowed to enter under any pretext 

 whatever. Such a reserve, besides benefiting the State in the 

 matter of forest preservation, would afford a sanctuary for the 

 Lions, who would once more find themselves left in peace. The 

 promiscuous shooting which is now carried on amongst the State 



