THE GAME OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTORY. 



BEFORE setting to work to describe the game of East Africa, it would be as 

 well to set forth one's attitude towards the game in question. By so doing 

 the reader will be able to judge for himself how much credence to give to 

 any views or ideas that may be set forth. 



At one time I used to be a keen sportsman. That is to say, I was always 

 anxious to secure a specimen of some animal I had not yet shot, and was always 

 on the look-out for good heads. 



In those days I used to shoot for heads and nothing else. 



Why I wanted these heads, or why I was so keen on getting a horn half 

 an inch bigger than one shot by someone else, is not quite clear to me. Since 

 coming to East Africa all this desire for tape measurements and new specimens 

 has quite vanished, as regards the commoner and easily shot game. The reason for 

 this is that in the countries in which I had shot before, practically every animal 

 has to be hunted and tracked with the utmost care before being brought to bag. 



In East Africa, on the contrary, the majority of the game v^ander about in a 

 semi-tame state, and live on the open plains where all the world can look at them. 



So in this country, any townsman who can hold a rifle straight, or, in lieu of 

 that, will expend vast quantities of ammunition, is able to procure all the common 

 varieties of game without any knowledge of hunting or bush lore. 



It was then that I realised more than before that it was the hunting and tracking 

 that interested me, and that the mere shooting was a matter to which I was 

 indifferent. Many men let their native trackers have all the best part of the fun by 

 allowing them to do all the tracking and interesting work single-handed, reserving 

 themselves for the shot. 



As for measurements, where game abound in such numbers, it seems to me 



that, in the long run, the man who slaughters the most should have the best 



B 



