232 THE GAME OF BRITISH EAST AFRICA. 



this sum which at present affords the money for the patrolling and upkeep of the 

 reserves, a duty which it will become more difficult and more expensive to perform 

 efficiently as time goes on. 



It is for this reason that I say that sportsmen should be persuaded to as great an 

 extent as possible to identify themselves with game preservation in East Africa ; for 

 the time will inevitably arrive when the question will arise of who is to support the 

 expense of keeping up the game reserves, and an arrangement with sportsmen will 

 probably be the only satisfactory way of solving the problem. 



As to the present sportsman's licence, personally I think the amount allowed is 

 much too generous, especially as regards the scarcer animals. Many sportsmen come 

 out with the idea of obtaining as many heads as possible, irrespective of sex or age. 

 Such men consider that they have not had their money's worth if they have not shot 

 their full allowance of each kind of animal. 



Now, I do not suppose it was ever the intention of the framers of game-laws 

 that the maximum number of animals allowed should in every case be reached. 



For instance, you are allowed ten hartebeest, ten waterbuck, ten gnu, ten 

 impala, and ten of a number of others. I take it that this number ten is an 

 outside number, fixed so as to allow for disappointments, mistakes, and want of 

 meat in certain districts. A sportsman, especially a beginner, might have very 

 bad luck with one kind of animal and fail to get a good head after many efforts. 

 Or he might stop a long time in some district where there was only one common 

 animal and it might be necessary to kill his full allowance for meat. With the 

 greater part of the game, however, he should have secured good heads after 

 shooting about four animals. It is not then necessary to shoot six more just because 

 they are allowed. 



As to the meat problem, its difficulties are not felt so much by the sportsman who 

 only stops a short time in the country and whose business it is to be constantly shoot- 

 ing different kinds of game. He is never without meat, and generally has an abundance 

 with which to glut his porters. It is the traveller or those who spend long periods in 

 the country and who have not the time or opportunity to go out of their way to hunt, 

 for whom arrangements should be made to facilitate their shooting for meat. Such 

 travellers generally shoot the most common animals they can find, but they have to 

 pay the same amount for shooting a few of these animals for daily needs as if they 

 wanted a large bag of rare animals, for, as I said before, a traveller has to take out a 

 sportsman's licence. 



For the benefit of such men then, and to save as much as possible the rarer 

 animals at the expense of the commoner, I should like to see some little different 



