Damage done by Wild Animals. 77 



keep them out of the fields, but they push these down and 

 find an entrance, and commit great havoc among the 

 green crops. 



Pigs are extremely destructive, and they are particularly 

 fond of rooting up ground nuts and sweet potatoes ; and 

 all the smaller game animals, such as bushbuck and duiker, 

 have a tendency to invade the native fields. 



The natives, therefore, have to stand all this without the 

 chance of reprisals, except against the smaller game, which 

 can be hunted and killed with the help of their dogs and 

 spears. 



In parts of Nyasaland and North-Eastern Rhodesia these 

 garden-feeding elephants get very dangerous, and, as the 

 natives run from them whenever they are seen, they lose 

 their natural fear of man and are inclined to become most 

 troublesome. 



I have been charged twice by garden-feeding elephants, 

 and on both occasions I stood my ground and shot as care- 

 fully as possible. One of these bull elephants fell within 

 fifteen yards of where I was standing, and I stopped the 

 other and killed him with a lung shot as he swerved and 

 gave me the sight of his shoulder. 



Neither Nyasaland nor North-Eastern Rhodesia has a 

 game warden, and it is time they did, not o'nly to help 

 the natives, but to supervise the game country and 

 the more valuable game, and also to see that white 

 poachers do not exceed the number of game -allowed on 

 their licences. 



In British East Africa the game is now treated as a valu- 

 able asset, and there is a game warden and a number of 

 game rangers ; but I believe there are not enough to keep 

 their eyes on such a vast extent of country, and much 

 poaching and game slaughter occurs, principally by Boers 

 from South Africa. The Boer is usually a fine, manly 

 fellow ; but no one can deny that he is a fearful slaughterer 

 of animal life. I have met many Boers in Cape Colony, 

 Natal, and Southern Rhodesia, and seen a few in British 

 East Africa ; but I never met one that was a true sports- 



