20 AFRICAN GAME TRAILS 



one and now another bound clear over the high bushes. A 

 herd of zebra clattered across a cutting of the line not a 

 hundred yards ahead of the train; the whistle hurried their 

 progress, but only for a moment, and as we passed they 

 were already turning round to gaze. The wild creatures 

 were in their sanctuary, and they knew it. Some of the 

 settlers have at times grumbled at this game reserve being 

 kept of such size; but surely it is one of the most valuable 

 possessions the country could have. The lack of water in 

 parts, the prevalence in other parts of diseases harmful to 

 both civilized man and domestic cattle, render this great 

 tract of country the home of all homes for the creatures of 

 the waste. The protection given these wild creatures is 

 genuine, not nominal; they are preserved, not for the 

 pleasure of the few, but for the good of all who choose to 

 see this strange and attractive spectacle; and from this nur- 

 sery and breeding-ground the overflow keeps up the stock 

 of game in the adjacent land, to the benefit of the settler 

 to whom the game gives fresh meat, and to the benefit of 

 the whole country because of the attraction it furnishes to 

 all who desire to visit a veritable happy hunting ground. 



Soon after lunch we drew up at the little station of 

 Kapiti Plains, where our safari was awaiting us; "safari" 

 being the term employed throughout East Africa to denote 

 both the caravan with which one makes an expedition and 

 the expedition itself. Our aim being to cure and send home 

 specimens of all the common big game in addition to as 

 large a series as possible of the small mammals and birds 

 it was necessary to carry an elaborate apparatus of 

 naturalists' supplies; we had brought with us, for instance, 

 four tons of fine salt, as to cure the skins of the big beasts 

 is a herculean labor under the best conditions; we had 

 hundreds of traps for the small creatures; many boxes 

 of shot-gun cartridges in addition to the ordinary rifle 

 cartridges which alone would be necessary on a hunting 

 trip; and, in short, all the many impedimenta needed if 

 scientific work is to be properly done under modern con- 



