THE WILD FAUNA OF THE EMPIRE 25 



GAME RESERVES. 



' L. (a) Conditions on August 1, 1902. — When I entered the 

 Sabi Game Reserve on the above date, I found a native population 

 within its boundaries of between 2,000 and 3,000, including women 

 and children ; most of the men had. rifles and guns of one sort and 

 another, and all had dogs, and in most districts shot and trapped 

 without interference. There were also four posts of Steinacker's 

 Horse consisting of perhaps in all forty white men and 150 

 natives: all these got their meat almost entirely from the game 

 which they shot. They, however, stopped the kraal natives in 

 their vicinity from shooting, and in the neighbourhood of Sabi 

 Bridge shooting was not allowed lately, though it went on to 

 a considerable extent on the railway. All the natives in the 

 employment of this corps were armed with M.-H. rifles, and they 

 killed game whenever they wont, being on the whole responsible 

 for more than the white men. Very few carnivora were shot 

 during this period, but many thousands of buck, especially impala 

 and wildoboesfe. Boors also came down and shot for biltong in 

 the western districts of the Reserve, where they practically 

 exterminated the larger antelope. 



' (b) Conditions on August 1, 1903. — All natives have left 

 the Game Reserve, which is now uninhabited by human beings 

 except the warden, three rangers and native police or game- 

 watchers. 



'The latter are not allowed firearms, nor are they or the rangers 

 permitted to kill buck, unless in the case of the latter under 

 exceptional circumstances. White men entering the Reserve are 

 closely watched, and very little if any game has been killed 

 recently on the railway, either by Europeans or natives. 



' The carnivora are hunted when possible, and twenty-two or 

 twenty-three wild dogs and about twelve hyicnas have been 

 accounted for. This ratio is likely to increase as their haunts get 

 to be better known. 



' 2. Violations of Resebve. — During the summer, especially 

 in the early part, several cases occurred of natives entering the 

 Reserve to kill game both from the Transvaal and Portuguese 

 Territory. They believed that old conditions still, obtained and 

 that no white man would be found willing to travel about after 

 November in the low veld, and that they could hunt with 

 impunity. No doubt some were able to do so ; but two cases 



