THE tropical AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feb. I, 1898 . 
Sob 
The following resolutions were proposed and 
carried : — • 
I. That Captain Ward Jackson, A.D C., be 
warmly thanked for liis liberality in presenting 
the Society with 21 chukhor, which birds he 
imported iioiu N. India. 
if. Tliat it be suggested to Government that 
the export of deer and sanrbhur horns be prohibited, 
and that the prohibition of the export of the 
hides of these animals be continued indefinitely. 
■III. That the Game Protection Society, in 
reply to a minute from the Hon. the Colonial 
Secretary, sees no objection to the proposed Buffalo 
Kraal on the Bagalla Patanas, provided that no 
buffalo be shot in the Kraal unless absolutely 
necessary. 
IV. That the Honorary Secretary be authorized 
to expend a further sum of 11500 in importing 
chukhor, and to make enquiries the cost of im- 
porting other game birds. 
V. That the Secretary be empowered to have 
printed and circulated, forms inviting member- 
ship. 
A copy of the above resolutions was forwarded 
to the Hon. the Colonial Secretary, and on the 
27th March, 1897, the following letter was 
received by the Honorary Secretary : — 
Colonial Secretary’s Office, 
Colombo, March 26ih, 1897. 
Sir, — 1 am directed to acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter of March 12th forwarding for perusal 
copies of the resolutions passed by the Game Pro- 
tection Society. — I am, sir your obedient servant, 
J. J. Thorburn, for Colonial Secretary, 
To T. Farr, Esq., Hon. Secretary, Game Protec- 
tion Society. 
ACCLIMATIZATION OF GAME. 
From the minutes of the two last meetings it 
will be seen that the im))ortation and accli- 
matization of game was first undertaken in 1826 
under the auspices of the Game Protection Society, 
and late in the same year Hungarian and French 
partridges, 10 brace of each, were indented for 
by Mr. C. H. Bagot from Messrs. John Bailey 
&■ Co., London. 
This experiment was attended with most dis- 
appointing results, and only twos Hungarian and 
two French partridges survived the long sea 
journey and reached Mr. Bagot alive. 
These were turned down on the patanas ad- 
joining St. Leonards’ Estate in Udapussellawa, 
and represented an expenditure of £20. 
Early in 1897 the Honorary Secretary received, 
through the kindness of Capt. R. Ward-Jackson, 
eighteen chukhor out of twenty-one birds that 
were despatclied from Northern India. 
They arrived in very poor condition, and three 
of them were evidently in a dying state on ar- 
rival. These were carefully raursed and attended 
to, but with no success. 
The remaining 15 birds were confined in a warm 
and dry room with a “ run ” attached. With 
the exception of three sickly birds they appeared 
to thrive remarkably well on paddy and green 
food. Sods of turf were placed in tlie run twice 
a day and vvere soon made bare of vegetation 
by the birds who pecked at the blades of grass 
greedily. When considered sufficiently strong to 
feed for themselves, the surviving twelve birds 
were turned down on the Horton Plains in a 
sheltered and carefully chosen piece of jungle. 
They were fed three times a week for a short 
period, and water was supplied to them in small 
tins placed just on the edge of the forest. They 
had easy acbess to a stream of water some 60 
yaidb from where they w'ere turned down, 
With the exception of a very small sum e x 
pended locally these chukhor cosi the Society 
nothing. 
THE RESUr/r.S so FAR.. 
The initiation and history of the Ceylon Game 
Protection Society having been given 'in the fore- 
going pages, a .‘-urn m ary of the good done and 
points gained by it during tlie past three years 
may prove of interest to its members, and in order 
to set this forth clearly I must deal with e.-x h 
animal separately .and summarize tlie reports of 
various sportsmen whose o[)portunities of formini>- 
a reliable opinion entitle them to respect and coix 
sideration. 
Elephants.— These animals appear to have 
been on the increase of late years, and it is an 
undoubted fact that the enhanced license fee has 
checked their destruction in a most marked de"ree. 
It behoves the Society now to see that the/ are 
not destroyed for the purposes ' of trade hy iiersons 
who may have discovered that their hides are 
of sufficient value to render the license fee of 
RlOO a matter of no consider, ation. 
Buffaloes.— R eports reach me that a laroe and 
lucrative trade is carried on in drieil mea” and 
in hides, and that large numbers of buHaloes are 
killed by “ Moormen ” traders for these purpo.'cs. 
Sambhur. — Fiom my own observations in the 
Hills I am satisfied that there h.as been no de- 
ciease of Late years ; indeed, I am in a position 
to state that where legitimate hunting only has 
been the means employed to kill ihem'they Inave 
increased in numbers. 
Tracts of country too much overrun by estate 
coolies with guns and dogs or beaters have been 
almost denuded of game. Large numbers have 
been killed and still more have been driven to 
the quieter sanctuaries remote from cultivated 
land. 
The more stringent conditions attached to li- 
censes by the various Government Agents have 
proved benelicial, and during the past year many 
Tamil coolies were refused licenses altogether 
wdiere tliey had in preceding seasons offended 
against the spirit of the game laws. 
These measures have proved salutary, but I ven- 
ture to que.stion the propriety of issuing any li- 
censes to kill deer to immigrant labourers on es- 
tates. In a force of, say, 200, to 1,000 coolies 
application will be made for 2 or .3 licenses at the 
most, but, protected by these, gangs of twenty 
and thirty go out into the forests and patanas and 
compass, jointly and severally, the destruction of 
many deer. 
In the Plains I am told that sambhur are on 
the decrease, and that mature animals are seldom 
seen. 
Spotted Deer or Chital (Axis Maculata). 
— There is a general consensus of opinion that 
these beautiful animals are decreasing in num- 
bers to an alarming extent. Jhey are de.'^troyed 
in the remoter districts of the Island in a variety 
of ways, even to the extent of hei’ding them 
together during the dry season near” water- 
holes and pools in dried up river beds and killing 
them with clubs. ° 
Their hides are, I believe, the most valuable 
of all hides on the markets of Europe, and their 
horns as well as those of sambhur are exported 
jn immense numbers. 
Red Deer (or Muntjac). — It is impossible to 
state with any degree of accuracy whether this 
timid little aninial has benefitted by protection, 
lhat they aie very plentiful in the habitats they 
most frequent is, 1 hear, an assured fact. They arQ 
