ANIMAL LIFE OF THE COUNTRY. 21 



occupied its condition may be very different. For then the greater part of the game 

 from these huge plains will probably be forced back into the reserve, while possibly 

 a similar state of affairs will occur on its opposite side, the German boundary. 



There are other influences, too, at work to reduce the grazing grounds of the 

 game besides the inpour of settlers. One is the increasing growth of the agricultural 

 tribes under the benign influences of the British Government, for now that there are 

 no wars to thin down their numbers they have increased greatly, and are able to put 

 under cultivation a larger tract of land, undisturbed as they are by external or 

 internal troubles. I speak more especially of the Kikuyu tribe, which occupies a large 

 area of some of the most densely populated and thickly cultivated country in Africa. 

 Now that they no longer live in fear of Masai raids from the south and west or of 

 the hostility of the Kenya tribes to the east, and now that they no longer indulge 

 in inter-tribal warfare, it seems as if their outward expansion could know no bounds. 

 Moreover, they are also among the most prolific of African natives. 



This dense mass of humanity is slowly spreading outwards like a slow-moving 

 but all-devouring stream of lava. Forests are cut down, bush is cleared, and 

 gradually every place it touches is converted into a treeless expanse of little, bare, 

 red hills covered with beans, sweet potatoes, and other vegetables. So, what 

 with game reserves, native cultivation, and the enormous tracts of land taken 

 up by settlers, the intending sportsman of a few years hence will find very little 

 vacant ground on which even to camp. Wherever he wishes to shoot he will find 

 wire fences and notice-boards warning him of the consequences of trespass. 

 Already in many parts it is overmuch like this. I am speaking of the healthier 

 parts of the administrated portion of British East Africa. In the game reserves, 

 unadministrated portions, and unhealthier parts of the coast and low country, 

 however, it is hoped that the game will survive for many a long year to give 

 pleasure to the nature-lover and he who likes to watch and study their habits. 



A great part of the highlands is plain country. It consists of great, rollings 

 open, treeless plains stretching away as far as the eye can reach, covered with short 

 grass. It is on these plains that the large herds of game are found. There is not 

 the slightest difficulty in finding them, and, when disturbed, they merely move off a 

 few hundred yards, so that the only quality requisite to kill such game is straight 

 shooting and a little patience in approaching. 



I came to this country direct from a place where it was necessary to work 

 hard for nearly every animal brought to bag, where it must be sought for, tracked, 

 and circumvented in bush or long grass, and where an animal, if once alarmed, puts 

 several hours of difficult country between itself and the hunter. After that kind of 



