THE EXTINCTION OF ANIMALS 1 17 



which have been ruthlessly shot and butchered for years, 

 and were it not for the vast supply they would have been 

 killed off long ago ; as it is, regions which not many years 

 ago knew them by thousands know them no more. The 

 European governments which have gained control of dif- 

 ferent parts of Africa now charge a large fee for hunting 

 privileges, and even then the big game is restricted. 

 Even this will doubtless not save the African elephant 





•f *a*- 





Fig. 98. — The Tiger. 



from extinction during the next century. The great value 

 of the ivory, and the honor that is supposed to attend the 

 killing of so stupendous a beast, are sure to have their 

 effect. So long as the natives followed the elephant with 

 their traps, and the Hamran Arabs with their swords, the 

 elephant held its own ; but against magazine guns, ex- 

 press rifles with explosive bullets, this splendid animal 

 has no chance. 



Another giant doomed to extinction is the hippopota- 

 mus, that formerly was very common in nearly all the 



