THE WILD FAUNA OF THE EMPIEE 



33 



cows in different places on the Singwitsi. They only exist in the 

 fifteen-mile stretch I mentioned, however. 



' Tressebe. — There is a good sprinkling of tressebe, which must 

 once have been numerous. I saw one or two small troops and 

 their spoor in several places. 



' Blue Wildebeestc. — There are a very few still to be found on 

 plains between Itendi and Singwitsi and possibly on higher 

 Letaba ; north of Singwitsi the natives say they have all been 

 killed out. I saw none myself, except the remains of one the 

 Boers had killed. 



' Duikerbuck. — A good sprinkling along the Singwitsi and 

 individuals scattered elsewhere. They seem to be in a better 

 position than any other buck as regards numbers. Boers shot 

 about ten of them near the Portuguese border in the Transvaal 

 this year. 



' Impala. — A few along the Singwitsi and Letaba Eivers. They 

 are not numerous. 



' Bcedbuck are not numerous, but exist, as I saw some on 

 Singwitsi Eiver. 



' Zebra. — A few troops on Itendi. and Singwitsi ; not numerous. 



' Ostrich. — I saw seven ostriches on the Singwitsi ; there are 

 probably others scattered about away from the rivers, and I fancy 

 they are tolerably represented. 



' Giraffe. — I saw the spoor of two on the Singwitsi which the 

 natives say they think still live. The spoor was at least two 

 months old, however. Smaller buck of most kinds are in 

 existence, but nowhere at all numerous. 



' I ought to mention that all information pointed to the game of 

 the Eeserve being chiefly along the Singwitsi Eiver ; the Lovubu 

 or Pafuri carries a large native population, and the fact of there 

 being no game there is conclusively proved by the natives from 

 thence coming down to hunt on the Singwitsi and Shishwa Eivers. 

 On the Singwitsi, as I pointed out, the game is chiefly confined 

 within a fifteen-mile stretch where they have not been hunted by 

 Boers since the war. 



' Owing to my provisions having quite given out, and being in 

 fact in rather reduced straits, I was unable to go up to the junction 

 of the two Letabas, but it is pretty certain that, as on the Singwitsi, 

 there is a small stretch there which still carries a certain head of 

 game. Altogether I think the Eeserve is well worth protecting, 

 though it cannot be compared for a moment, either in its amount 

 of game or in the ease with which it can be protected, with the 

 northern extension of the Sabi Game Eeserve. I have some police 

 boys now in the eastern district of it, and as there is no likelihood 

 of any more Boers coming there, now that the fever season is 

 setting in, I consider that it is not vitally important to send a 

 white man there just at present ; the native police can stop the boys 

 hilling game and report any white men. 



' Next year I propose to station a white man at a kraal which is 

 situated in a central position and is within striking distance of 



