A SANCTUARY FOR ELEPHANTS, 



63 



cious creature, whether it be to obtain ivory or to 

 secure trophies. Now, this is in the power of the 

 New South African Company, and let them act at 

 once, so that in the future they will not have to regret 

 their procrastination. 



At one time elephants were to be found all over 

 the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and where are 

 they now ? Exterminated, with the exception of a 

 few specimens preserved in some districts. Two de- 

 cades back there were plenty of these valuable beasts 

 to be found in Bechuana Land and the Matabele 

 country ; there now, they are few and far between, 

 but in Mashona Land, where the South African 

 Company reigns paramount, the mammoth of terres- 

 trial animals still exists in considerable numbers, and 

 they are, without doubt, the finest and largest repre- 

 sentatives of the race to be found in any part of the 

 world ; for instance, it is a large elephant that reaches 

 the height of ten feet in India, while between the 

 Limpopo and Zambesi it is not an uncommon occur- 

 rence to find them measure twelve feet in altitude. 



There can be no shorter-sighted policy, no better 

 example of killing the goose that laid the golden Qgg^ 

 than permitting these magnificent creatures to be 

 killed or harassed out of their homes by so-called 

 sportsmen and hunters. On the other hand, give the 

 poor things protection, provide them with a sanctuary, 

 and full well they will repay the trifling expense that 

 would be attached to such a course. 



But the question may be asked, how will they re- 

 pay the cost and trouble, provided the above steps 

 were taken ? The answer is simple enough, by 

 domesticating them and employing them in agricul- 

 ture, in transport, in pageants, in destroying the car- 

 nivorous brutes, and, finally, as the instruments by 

 which to explore every hole and corner in the un- 

 known parts of the " dark continent." 



Some persons assert that the African elephant 



