124 iN THE GRIP OF THE NYIKA chap. 



to put a stop to the depredations of these people, 

 who from time immemorial have had undisputed 

 rights to the hunting and killing of the game in 

 their districts. The question as to how they should 

 be dealt with is a vexed one. I consider that it 

 would be most unwise and unjust to prohibit the 

 native from exercising his undoubted rights and 

 privileges, which are part of his birthright, without 

 compensating him in some suitable manner for his 

 loss. If it is decided that no hunting of any kind 

 is to be done in the Reserve by either native or 

 European — and I think such a ruling would be 

 a wise one — then the chiefs and headmen of the 

 various tribes concerned should be summoned to a 

 council and some agreement arrived at. They 

 would probably gladly forgo their time-honoured 

 rights for a yearly present of a few cows, sheep, 

 and goats. 



No attempt had ever been made to guard this 

 large tract of country, and the result was that 

 raiders came down from Abyssinia, and ivory 

 hunters got in from the coast, and slaughtered the 

 elephants with impunity. In any case this so-called 

 Reserve was much too unwieldy to be properly 

 watched, and a sanctuary that is not adequately 

 guarded is worse, to my mind, than no sanctuary at 

 all. It was important, therefore, that the area should 

 be cut down to a workable size, and its limits defined 

 by physical features, as soon as possible ; and I knew 



