i88 
WILD BEASTS AND THEIR WA VS 
CHAP. 
possession; and the rich alluvial soil is made to 
produce abundance, including large quantities of 
jute, which is transported by the steamers to Cal¬ 
cutta. The danger of an unexpected rise in the 
river is always provided for, and every village 
possesses two or more large boats, which are care¬ 
fully protected from the sun by a roof of mats or 
thatch, to be in readiness for any sudden emergency. 
When the natives first established themselves 
upon the islands and along the dangerous banks of 
the Brahmaputra, they suffered greatly from the 
depredations of the numerous tigers, and in self- 
defence they organised a system by which each 
village paid a subscription towards the employment 
of professional shikaris. These men soon reduced 
the numbers of the common enemy, by setting 
clever traps, with bows and arrows, the latter having 
a broad barbed head, precisely resembling the broad- 
arrow that is well known as the Government mark 
throughout Great Britain. The destruction of tigers 
was so great in a few years that the Lieut.-Governor 
of Bengal found it necessary to reduce the reward 
from fifty rupees to twenty-five, and tiger-skins were 
periodically sold by auction at the Dhubri Kutcherry 
at from eight annas to one rupee each. 
In this manner the development of agricultural 
industry brought into value the fertile soil, which had 
hitherto been neglected, and the wild beasts were 
the first to suffer, and eventually to disappear from 
the scene ; precisely as indolent savage races must 
vanish before the inevitable advance of civilisation. 
