From the loan 

 collection of 

 more than 

 three hundrc 1 

 heads on tht 

 walls of tlu' 

 African hall 



and stations toward the Tsavo River 

 we found to be the home of the 

 fringe-eared oryx and the lesser 

 kudu. The Loieta PUiins, 

 where we did our first hiuit- 

 ing, about fifty miles south 

 of the I'ganda railway, 

 proved rich in black rhinos. 

 But what was then true of the elephant will soon 

 be true of the rhino and of other large African game. 

 It is not realized that every animal shot by the sports- 

 man means two or perhaps seA'eral killed. P^or the 

 average hvinter does not shoot only when near enough to 

 kill, but takes unsportsman-like chances. He shoots at 

 distances which to the true sportsman are decidedly out 

 of range, when although the animal may be hit, a vital spot 

 is not reached, and the poor brute escapes to fall a prey to 

 hyenas that night. Unnecessary destruction of game is 

 particularly great in the use of the repeating rifle on a 

 herd of animals such as the antelope — many shots one 

 after another may be sent into the herd as it retreats, one 

 animal perhaps falls but others are wounded to die shortly 

 afterwards. 



Even in the case of the rhinos, such large numbers have 

 recently been shot on the Loieta Plains, where the species was 

 common in 1909, that their numbers have decreased very con- 

 siderably. The fact that the Loieta country is open makes the 

 rhino a very conspicuous object there. He can usually be seen 

 through the glasses a mile or more away, and the stalk of the 

 rhino in the open is not a difficult one. This, atlded to the fact 

 that every sportsman considers a rhino a Aery necessary part of 

 his bag, will to my mind very soon kill them off in this plains 

 region, perhaps driving a small remainder of them to seek the pro- 

 tection of the brush on the outskirts of the Loieta. 



We found the rhinos numerous also, in fact too numerous for our 

 comfort, in the country between the Athi and Tana Rivers about twenty- 

 five miles north of Donya Sabuk Mountain. This country is one of tall 

 grass and thick brush and it is my opinion that here the rhinos may last 

 for some years to come; they are better protected from man by the 

 nature of the country and there is plenty of brush and grass, their natural 

 food. 



Li such brush or in tall grass country the rhino is a dangerous 

 animal to hunt, for one is apt to walk right on top of it unexpectedly 

 and draw a charge before fully prepared. The presence of the rhino 

 cannot be guessed till it rises in the grass or makes the puffing and 



96 



