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Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned Lands,
Hd Qrs Asst. Comr, Dist. of Va
Richmond, Va October 9. 1868.

Circular 
No 24.

I. The attention of the officers and agents of the Bureau in this District is directed to the following General Order:
"Head Quarters First Mil. Dist. 
State of Va
Richmond Va Oct. 8. 1868.

General Order}
No 123}

1. It having been reported to these Hd Qrs that numerous cases have occurred, and are daily occurring, of violations of State laws regulating hunting, the attention of all concerned is called to the provisions of sections 1 to 6 inclusive of Chapter 101, Code of Virginia, and an Act amendatory of 4. section thereof, entitled "An act to prevent and punish unlawful hunting" passed February 20, 1866, which provides that "if any person shall hunt, shoot or range, with or without dogs, on the lands of another, without the consent of the owner or tenant of such lands, or shoot along any public road, or in the streets of any town or village in any of the counties of the Commonwealth, or shall fish or fowl on the lands or in the water courses comprehended in the survey of any proprietor, he shall be deemed guilty of trespass" &c.  These laws, just and necessary at all times, are peculiarly so in the present impoverished condition of the State, when agricultural interests will suffer by the destruction of crops in fields which are hunted and ranged over by idle and irresponsible parties. In view of these facts, all officers, civil and military, in this District, are enjoined to take such measures as will insure the faithful observance of these laws, and prevent in future all illegal hunting, ranging, fowling and fishing within the limits of their respective jurisdictions, and secure the prompt arrest and punishment of all offenders.

2. This order will remain in force until the first day of October next, or until the laws above cited shall be repealed by competent authority.

3. All civil magistrates and military commissioners will take measures to have this order disseminated and make known to the public.
By Command of Bvt. Maj. Genl Stoneman
S.F. Chalfin
A.A. Genl.

II. It will be observed that the remainder of the section of the act of Assembly of February 20, 1866, not above quoted, reads as follows after the word "tresspass": "and shall be fined for each offence five Dollars-the fine to be double in every instance if the offence be committed in the night or on Sunday for the use of the owners or tenant of the lands, and for the Commonwealth when the offence is committed in the public roads or in the streets of any town or village; to be recovered by warrant before any justice of the peace, together with all costs and charges attending the collection of the same; and shall moreover forfeit,