THE WILD FAUNA OF THE EMPIEE 69 



five hundred or six hundred of&cers in the country shoot with or 

 without a hcence, but I know of several cases where, although 

 sheep were at all times easily obtainable, the Sepoys were habitually 

 allowed to kill as much game as they wanted, and no check was 

 apparently placed upon the shooting of females. With the depar- 

 ture of the troops, this indiscriminate slaughter has happily become 

 a thing of the past. 



* I think it will be generally recognised that year by year wild 

 animals suffer from increasing disadvantages. Rifles continually 

 improve, but animals obtain no countervailing advantages. 

 Whereas formerly a knowledge of woodcraft, without which the 

 sportsman could not get within range of his animal, was incum- 

 bent, men nowadays lie down with their flat-trajectory small-bore 

 rifles on the grassy veldt, and open fire at from four hundred to 

 five hundred yards, and if they happen to be good shots, they 

 easily kill their animals, whilst if they are indifferent shots, they 

 may send them away maimed, to be killed in the night by hyaenas. 

 As a sportsman, and in the interests of sport such as I think it 

 should be, I am strongly in favour of a general agreement to 

 restrict the use of rifles to a bore not smaller than "577. The 

 sport would gain by the reviving of the now fast disappearing art 

 of woodcraft, but I am afraid that the idea is Utopian, and would 

 not commend itself to most modern sportsmen, many of whom, 

 knowing that they may never come again, are possessed of a wish 

 to carry away as many trophies as possible, and thus make good 

 the fees which they have paid for a licence. 



' E. J. E. SWAYNE. 

 ' November 22, 1905.' 



Appendix 5. 



' Commissioner's Office, Somaliland Protectorate, 



Sheikh, November 23, 1905. 



' Sir, — I have the honour to request that you will take into 

 your consideration the question of the feasibility of bringing into 

 force at Aden regulations which will assist this Administration in 

 ensuring the observance of the " Somaliland Game Regulations, 

 1901," a copy of which has already been submitted to you. 



* The actual administration does not as yet extend to the eastern 

 part of the Protectorate, and there are as yet no establishments 

 there to cope with the export of game trophies, which are offered 

 for sale at Aden. 



' At the same time the preservation of interesting varieties of 

 wild animals as contemplated by the International Convention of 

 the 19th of May, 1900, to which Great Britain has acceded, is a 

 matter of scientific importance, and is engaging the close atten- 

 tion of all parties to the Convention. 



