THE WILD FAUNA OE THE EMPIRE 



39- 



quite apart from all sentiment in the matter of saving a rich 

 fauna from extermination, is an efficient Game Ranger's Depart- 

 ment, and I would strongly urge that such department be estab- 

 lished as soon as possible, and as follows : — 



Estimates for 1907-08. 



Ranger .... 



Deputy Hanger . 



Assistant Hangers : '2 at £260 



Horse allowances : 4 at L"M) 



Native scouts 



Expenses .... 



Total 



£600 



400 

 500 

 144 

 200 

 500 



£2,844 



The 



Manger 



at Nairobi. One 



should have his headquarters 

 Assistant "Ranger should be in charge of the Southern Reserve 

 and adjacent "open" districts, with headquarters at Makindu 

 and Kiu. 



' One Assistant should be in charge ef the Northern Reserve 

 and adjacent "open" districts, with headquarters at Rumuruti or 

 Baringo. 



' With an Assistant in charge of each Reserve, the Ranger and 

 his third Assistant would then be able to move about from place 

 to place as occasion required. 



' The Assistant Rangers should submit quarterly reports with 

 details as to the approximate numbers of each species of game in 

 their respective districts or beats. 



' With these reports before him the Ranger would then be in 

 a position to submit recommendations to the Commissioner in 

 regard to the closing of a district for a limited period, or to pro- 

 hibiting a particular species of game from being killed in a specified 

 district. 



' At the present moment noone is allowed to kill a buffalo in the 

 Ukamba Province, or a greater kudu in the Baringo District, and 

 yet no one, not even Mr. Percival, is in a position to say, or even 

 suggest with any degree of authority, how much longer these two 

 species should be protected. They may, or they may not, have 

 increased in sufficient numbers to warrant a few bulls being killed 

 on payment of a special fee. 



' At present the issuing of special licences is in the hands of 

 the Sub-Commissioners of Provinces, as well as the Game Ranger. 

 Most of them are issued by the Sub-Commissioner at Mombasa. 

 This is unsatisfactory, as Sub-Commissioners, being tied to their 

 offices, are not in a position to say where a special licence-holder 

 can obtain a particular beast for which he has paid the fee of £5, 

 and this, not unnaturally, often gives rise to a good deal of 

 grumbling. 



' As a case in point : a sportsman, whose time was limited, 

 recently took out a special licence to shoot a ball eland, and was 



