NATURAL HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA 



If the knowledge which I now possess of the 

 ways and habits of the lower animals had been 

 acquired in early boyhood, I should have, in con- 

 sequence, exercised greater discrimination in the 

 destruction of animal life. 



It cannot be too often reiterated that consider- 

 able numbers of the animals, birds, and reptiles of 

 our country are of great economic value, and to kill 

 them is a crime against our neighbours, and those 

 of our kind who come after us. 



In the more populous centres of civilisation, 

 where the native animals have been allowed to 

 be destroyed indiscriminately and ignorantly, the 

 annual financial losses both direct and indirect 

 are great. 



It is not only the farmer and gardener who suffer 

 financially. Every section of the community or of 

 the State suffers, either directly or indirectly. For 

 instance, if the species of birds and animals which 

 prey upon the native rats and mice of this country 

 were exterminated, these rodents would increase 

 so rapidly that they would, in a very short space 

 of time, swarm over the land and destroy the crops 

 and even the native vegetation. This would im- 

 poverish the farmers and make agriculture unprofit- 

 able ; and all branches of industry would, in 

 consequence, suffer. 



Even the Government revenue would consider- 

 ably diminish by reason of the shrinkage of the 

 import and export trade, and the general lessened 

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