THE PASSING OF THE WILD 317 



of the wilderness, since their very whiteness is 

 the result of artificial selection. Something 

 can be done in this way on even a small scale. 

 Two Boer farmers, for instance, have long 

 preserved the black wildebeest, which is else- 

 where extinct, on their farms in the Orange 

 Free State. Had they not done so, it is prob- 

 able that the South African War, which had 

 disastrous effects on the antelope population 

 of that region, would have sounded the knell of 

 the species. 



A condition of success in this scheme of 

 sanctuaries is that the animals should be pre- 

 served in their natural haunts. Only in their 

 native climate can they remain wild in the true 

 sense of the word. Transplanted to other 

 homes, they become virtually animals in cap- 

 tivity. Save as an interesting hobby of private 

 individuals, like the Duke of Bedford, not 

 much can be said in favour of proposals to set 

 wapiti, eland, or other exotic deer and ante- 

 lopes at liberty in English woodlands, and 

 they are not, at any rate, a proper enterprise 

 for national support. Apart from the vagaries 

 of the British climate, which is something 

 quite different from that to which these animals 

 are accustomed in their own homes, ours is a 

 small island, and the migrations which these 

 creatures make at different seasons of the year 

 would soon bring them to the seashore. 



