THE WILD FAUNA OF THE EMPIBE 



45 



buffalo, eland, roan antelope, koodoo, sassaby, waterbuok, impalah, 

 blue wildebeeste, zebra, and other varieties, but I never saw a 

 tsetse fly there, and I never lost oxen, horses, or dogs there from 

 the bite of the tsetse. 



' I have no doubt that in the far interior similar tracts, abound- 

 ing with game but devoid of tsetse, could be found, in which game 

 could bo preserved, without encouraging tsetse fly or running the 

 risk of spreading sleeping sickness through their agency. 



' Yours, &c, 



' Chas. M. D. Stewaet. 

 '34, Palace Mansions, Kensington, 

 May 19.' 



LBTTEE8 FEOM SIE JOHN KIEK, K.C.13. 



Sir John Kirk, has addressed the following letters, which 

 deal with the subject, to a member of the Society : — 



' You have asked me in what way the wild animals of Tropical 

 Africa can best be saved from destruction, and in how far their 

 preservation is likely to affect European undertakings. 



' I must, therefore, try shortly to explain the views formed by 

 nil! after a long x\frican experience. 



' When I compare the abundance of game met with in Africa 

 half a century ago with the limited amount now to be seen, and if 

 we reflect that this great change has come about chiefly within 

 the last few years, we must feel that if steps are not taken at 

 once many interesting kinds of animals will have disappeared, to 

 follow the quagga, the white-tailed gnu, and white rhinoceros of 

 South Africa. 



' Game laws may for a time protect certain species, but it is 

 only by oreatiDg game reserves or sanctuaries, within which, unless 

 lot' administrative purposes, wild animals are not hunted, thai, Mu: 

 fauna as a whole 0:111 be saved. 



' Such reserves, to bo effectual, must be chosen in localities 

 suited to the game and where they will least interfere with other 

 undertakings, such as mining or agriculture. To the passage of a 

 railway through a reserve there can be no objection, since thus the 

 public are afforded the best opportunity of onjoying the sight of 

 wild animals in a native state. Such a sight, for instance, as the 

 Uganda Bailway affords where it crosses the .Athi plains is 

 nowhere else to be found, since passengers can look on herds 

 of wild zebra, antelope, gazelles, or ostriches any time the train 

 passes. 



' A game reserve should, however, bo selected so as not to 

 include a locality infested by the tsetse fly near its outer border. 

 The tsetse fly ((llossiiia morsitans and other species), which carries 

 Hie germs of disease from wild animals to domestic cattle, horses, 

 &o., is fortunately limited to fixed localities which it never passes 

 beyond ; so that, although it depends upon the presence of game 



