22 DIVERSIONS OF A NATURALIST 



region — from destruction by the necessary unpremeditated 

 disturbance of Nature's balance by man once he has 

 passed from the lowest stage of savagery. At present 

 we are faced by this difficulty in Africa. Not only the 

 white settlers have large herds of cattle, but before their 

 arrival the native races had imported Indian cattle. 

 These cattle are destroyed by " fly disease," the germs 

 (trypanosomes) being carried by the tsetse fly to the 

 domesticated cattle from wild buffalo which swarm with 

 the germs but are uninjured by them. Consequently, if the 

 rich pasture lands of Africa — at present unutilized — are 

 to be occupied by herdsmen, the wild game, buffalo and 

 antelopes, must be destroyed. In many regions they 

 have been destroyed. Is this destruction to be con- 

 tinued ? If Africa is to be the seat of a modern human 

 population and supply food to other parts of the world, 

 the whole " balance of Nature " there must be upset and 

 the big wild animals destroyed. There is no alternative. 

 The practical question is, " How far is it possible to 

 mitigate this process ? " Can a great African " reserve " 

 of 100,000 square miles be established in a position so 

 isolated that it shall not be a source of disease and 

 danger to the herdsmen and agriculturists of adjacent 

 territory ? 



