THE WILD FAUNA OF THE EMPIEE 



23 



speaking. There, as I understand, the conditions are absolutely 

 the inverse : we have the Game Laws which have been devised in 

 all the different Protectorates, many of which I have seen, which 

 seem to me to be most skilfully and properly adapted to the vary 

 ing conditions, differing, as they do, in different parts, and which, 

 as Mr. Buxton has just said, are administered by high-minded and 

 intelligent officers. Therefore we do not come to you now to ask 

 you for any strengthening of the Game Laws, but we turn to the 

 other branch of the subject, namely the reserves, and we come to 

 you and ask you to use your great influence to supply those 

 conditions which will make the reserves effective. Do not let us, 

 who are enthusiasts upon this matter, for a moment conceal the 

 fact that a case is made out, I do not say a strong case, but that 

 an argument is made out against this policy of reserves. Let us 

 admit that, and let us be prepared to contest it. I have read the 

 correspondence in the papers to which Mr. Buxton alluded, and I 

 am well aware that there are people who protest against these 

 reserves on agricultural grounds, on economical grounds, on the 

 grounds of protection for the natives, and on the grounds of the 

 depredations alleged to be committed by the wild game which tend 

 to collect inside these reserves. In my view all those arguments 

 are important, and it will be the greatest mistake in the world to 

 brush them on one side as worthless, because they are held by 

 serious people, and people whose opinions carry weight, and what 

 we have to do rather is to balance! the case and to see what is to 

 be said on the other side, and to inform our minds as to whether 

 we are justified in. asking you to decide on the whole in favour of 

 reserves rather than against them. 



I should be disposed myself to put the argument rather on 

 different grounds from those which were adopted by Mr. Buxton. 

 Although I hope I may regard myself as a keen sportsman, I will 

 not look at the matter from the hunter's point of view ; I do not 

 think you ought to simply defend these reserves in order to pro- 

 vide shooting for young officials, be they officials of the Govern- 

 ment or be they globe-trotters. Nor, again, do I think one ought 

 to defend them mainly from what I may call the. naturalist's point 

 of view, I mean the point of view of the man who says ' lou have 

 your groat museums in London, you have your Zoological 

 Gardens : now lot us provide live specimens for the one, and let 

 us provide dead specimens for the other.' I believe myself that 

 zoos and museums have a great educative influence in the lives of 

 people, but at the same time I should not maintain that a special 

 system of game preservation should bs instituted in Africa or any- 

 where else simply in order to fill our museums or zoos. 



There is another argument which Mr. Buxton mentioned 

 which again makes me a little careful not to exaggerate, and that 

 is as to the' financial side of the question. He comes to you and 

 he says : ' Now so popular is this sport, and so large are the 

 sums of money which are derived frpm it, that it is really from the 

 financial point of view rather a good thing for the Government.' 



