ACROSS THE MAU ESCARPMENT 55 



near Baringo, were it not for clever native irrigation, the 

 people would often starve. Three years ago I tramped 

 down the valley from Nakuru and found large quantities of 

 game, but most of it now has gone elsewhere. But one 

 sportsman's prize may still be gathered amid those stony and 

 sunbaked ridges the greater koodo. On the precipi- 

 tous slopes near Baringo, and in the broken, almost water- 

 less country on the southern side of that lake, he is to be 

 had for the diligent seeking. 



North of this, beyond Baringo, koodo are fairly abundant, 

 but, alas, the tantalizing game reserve line is there drawn 

 across your path, and, into this "northern reserve," common 

 mortal may not, at present, enter. Later, I hope to have 

 something to say about the game reserve policy which now 

 obtains. Game should be preserved. But in my humble 

 judgment, the best way to do so, is not the present way. 

 Now, great areas are permanently closed against sportsmen, 

 while within them, native hunters and some unprincipled 

 poachers, work their will. If a man is willing to lie, it is 

 impossible for any official to say where he got his trophies. 

 There are no fences, only one or two game wardens for 

 several hundreds of thousands of square miles. Once 

 launched, a sefari can go anywhere and no man be the 

 wiser. A far better plan surely would be to have several 

 preserved areas, each with its own game officer, and to 

 open one or two each year, keeping them open for a set time 

 only, then closing them again. The old bucks carrying 

 the finest trophies would, if this plan were adopted, 

 be shot down, and the herds would gain, not lose thereby. 

 Any way, you cannot get into the northern preserve at 

 present, even to take one greater koodo unless you have 

 a "pull." I hadn't and so did not go. There is a 

 chance, however, as I said, of finding this finest of all 

 the antelopes to the south of the forbidden land, and it 

 is worth trying. 



