62 THE SOCIETY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF 



the principles of the International Convention of the 19th of May, 

 1900. I have also to request that you will furnish me with a short 

 report on the measures at present in force in regard to the preser- 

 vation of game and on the existing reserves, together with a rough 

 estimate of the numbers of the different varieties of game in the 

 Protectorate. 



* I have, &c., 



'Alfred Lyttelton.' 



No. 211. 



Commissioner Swayne {Somaliland) to Mr. Lyttelton. 



(Received December 9, 1905.) 



[Answered hy No. 230.] 



' Somaliland, Commissioner's Office, Sheikh, 

 November 21, 1905. 



' Sir, — The duty of seeing that the provisions of the Regulations 

 are carried out has been a difficult one for the Administrative Staff. 

 During the various expeditions much game was shot, and, owing 

 to the want of game rangers, infractions of the Regulations could 

 only come to the ears of the officials accidentally, in conversation 

 with officers and others. There was a very strong feeling amongst 

 officers that free shooting should be allowed as some compensa- 

 tion for the hardships of service. 



' There are no European settlers in the country. 



' The Midgans, a servile tribe, are kept by wealthy Somalis to 

 roam about in the debateable land of the Hand to guard the front 

 of flocks, and they maintain themselves by hunting. I am en- 

 deavouring to get the tribes to give these people regular occupa- 

 tion with the flocks, and have succeeded to a certain extent. 



* Without settled administration in the interior, any attempt 

 to compel the tribes to adhere to measures designed to stop the 

 rinderpest in cattle and game will prove to be ineffective. The 

 tribes are very jealous of interference in their nomad life and would 

 probably resent dictation. 



* In order to protect both the hill game, such as greater and 

 lesser kudu, which are very local in their habits, and the prairie 

 game, such as oryx and hartebeeste, which yearly w^ander over large 

 areas in search of grass, a hill reserve has been made in the central 

 portion of the Golis Range, and a prairie and bush reserve, in- 

 cluding the extensive Damal Plain, has been made in the high 

 western country ending at Hargeisa. 



* The reserves form a long strip lying east and west and touch 

 each other, except that a right of way has been left between the 

 two, by which sportsmen may penetrate into the Hand vid the 

 Jerato Pass, They are allowed to shoot on the march five miles on 



