5 34 



The National Geographic Magazine 



supply the public need. The state, with 

 its lower interest rate and freedom from 

 taxes, can do what the private person 

 .cannot. 



Three-fourths of the population of the 

 United States is found east of the Missis- 

 sippi River, but over half the timber is 

 now west of it. Yet it is still from the 

 forests of the East that the larger part 

 of our timber is being drawn. Less 

 than two decades will leave the East 

 practically without saw timher of her 

 own, unless it is possible to draw more 

 heavily than present conditions permit 

 upon the supplies of other regions. The 

 demands even now laid by the lumber 

 traffic upon the transcontinental lines 

 from the Northwest have severely taxed 

 their carrying powers. A very serious 

 situation is in prospect. 



Again, the East is the home of the 

 hardwoods, or broad-leaved trees. These 

 are used extensively in wood-working 

 industries of many kinds. In these in- 

 dustries large amounts of capital are in- 

 vested, and their products furnish a 

 surprisingly large number of articles of 



daily use. Our virgin hardwood forests 

 are so nearly cleared away that the col- 

 lapse of the industries which they sup- 

 port is imminent. 



There is every reason why what has 

 happened in the mountains of the West 

 should happen also in the mountains of 

 the East. In the West, forests are needed 

 to furnish wood and keep the streams 

 running. In the East they are needed 

 to furnish wood and keep back flood 

 waters. 



In certain regions, as in parts of the 

 Southern Appalachians and in the White 

 Mountains, the most serious effects of 

 forest destruction fall mainly upon other 

 states than those in which the destruction 

 takes place. It is clearly too much to 

 expect that Tennessee or New Hampshire 

 should maintain forests to prevent floods, 

 loss of water power, and impairment of 

 navigation in Georgia or ]\Iassachusetts. 

 In such cases purchase of lands by the 

 federal government would seem to be the 

 proper remedy. It is to be hoped that we 

 shall soon see national forests created in 

 these two important regions. 



FLASHLIGHTS FROM THE JUNGLE 



A fezv notes and illustrations from a remarkable book by C. G. Schillings, 

 published by Donhleday, Page & Co^, giving a record of hunting adventures and 

 of studies- in zvild life in Equatorial East Africa. 



MR C. G. SCHILLINGS is a 

 wealthy -young German who 

 some years ago set out to 

 photograph the big game of Equatorial 

 East Africa. As a result of lo years 

 almost entirely devoted to the work, he 

 has obtained and published the most won- 

 derful series of photographs of the great 

 animals of Africa in their native haunts 

 that the world has seen. What makes 

 his illustrations particularly valuable is 

 the fact that they are of living animals 

 and not of dead game, and that they 

 are furthermore accompanied by an in- 

 telligent and keen description of the 

 habits and characteristics of the beasts. 



Mr Schillings greatly deplores the use- 

 less sacrifice of such a large number 

 of magnificent elephants, lions, giraffes, 

 rhinoceroses, etc., of Equatorial East 

 Africa. In a few years this region, so 

 recently the richest game country in the 

 world, will be as depleted as South Africa 

 or the LTnited States. 



The author gives many illustrations 

 of the rapidity with which the big game 

 is being swept away. In 1896, when he 

 first went to that region, countless num- 

 bers of wild elephants roamed the forests 

 and plains ; today they are counted in 

 tens where formerly they were counted 

 by thousands. 



