414 ZOOLOGY 



to the blood of horses, cattle, and other beasts. This is a very fortunate 

 circumstance, as it removes a serious hindrance in the way of rearing live- 

 .<tock and developing transport. 



Earth-worms not dift'ering in appearance from those found in P^ngland 

 are present in the soil of Uganda, but the worm class is most notably 

 represented in the eyes of unscientific peo])le by two remarkalile forms — 

 Benhamia, an earth-worm sometimes twelve inches in length, thick, and 

 of a bright verditer-blue ; and nematoid, or tape-worms. These last-named, 

 as elsewhere in Africa, develo]) in the intestines of mammals, birds, and 

 large insects, and may attain to a considerable length, perha])s two feet. 

 In the Nile Province, especially, tlie ta])e or (iuinea worm is much 

 <.'om])lained of bv the natives, who take its germs into their intestines by 

 <lrinking impure water. Small leeches are found in some of the marshes, 

 but they are not as voracious as in tropical Asia. 



It may be useful if at this stage in the book I say a few words on the 

 subject of the shooting of big game within the liinits of the Uganda 

 Protectorate. The Foreign Oflfice and the Administration of the Protectorate 

 are becoming more and more averse to the nu^'e shooting of wild beasts 

 and birds ibr shooting's sake. The killing of beasts of })rey or noxious 

 reptiles remains without any restrictions except in regard to the rarer cats 

 and the jackal. The chimpanzee and the colobus monkeys are i)artially 

 protected; so are the rhinoceros, the zelira, and most of the antelopes; 

 while the female or young elejjhant, the giraffe, the okapi (added sub- 

 vsecpiently ), the mountain zelira, wild ass, gnu, eland, liuffalo, Speke's 

 tragela[)h, and many of the rarer and more remarkable birds receive 

 al)solute protection, and can only be killed under special licence, which 

 licence, it is to be presumed, would never be granted to mere trophy- 

 hunters, but only to scientific collectors, sent out properly accredited to 

 obtain a limited number of s^jecimens for imjiortant museums which are 

 public institutions. 



It is hoped by the British Government that tlie maintenance of these 

 restrictions on the needless killing of African wild creatures may result in 

 their preservation from extinction at the hands of the Euro])ean or the 

 Negro. The measure instituted may even tend towards the marked increase 

 within the game reserves of birds and beasts. Should their multiplication 

 ever tend to the overcrowding of these reserves, it will be easy enough to 

 thin them from time to time, and it is to be hoped that on these occasions 

 efforts will be made to capture living specimens for exhibition in the 

 zoological gardens of the world. Indeed, the sale of birds and beasts 



