The Ruchuru and Ruindi Plains 



Lake Edward was dangerous and impracticable on account 

 of the cannibals who infest this region. 



At Ruchuru I had to pay customs duty and take out my 

 shooting licences. For some reason only known to the 

 Belgian Government, the game laws and regulations are 

 constantly altering, especially in regard to the shooting of 

 elephants. The district residents themselves are never certain 

 about the cost of game licences, or the number of elephants 

 allowed to be shot. When I applied for a licence I was 

 informed that the cost would be i,ooo francs for the first two 

 and 400 francs for each subsequent elephant shot, up to twenty 

 head, but that, although the applicant had to pay his money 

 down, he was unable to receive his licence or commence 

 shooting for two months, as the application had to be for- 

 warded for the Governor's signature at Stanleyville, thirty 

 days overland. This arrangement must lose the Government 

 many thousands of francs annually, as few hunters would be 

 inclined to wait such a length of time. The regulation came 

 into force a few weeks before I reached Ruchuru. I applied 

 for a licence to shoot two elephants, but when I received it 

 from Stanleyville twelve weeks later, the regulations had 

 again been altered. I also took out a licence to shoot small 

 game, costing fifty francs, which can be obtained on the spot, 

 and under which I was able to shoot all kinds of game, ex- 

 cepting elephants, chimpanzis, gorillas and okapis. To shoot 

 the three last mentioned animals a special licence is necessary 

 for which, however, no charge is made if such specimens are 

 required for scientific purposes. 



The district being very rich entomologically, both my 

 collecting " boys " and myself used every available hour of 

 the day for catching insects in the large patches of evergreen 



99 



