50 THE SOCIETY FOE THE PRESERVATION OE 



BRITISH CENTRAL AFRICA. 



Sir Alfred Sharps, C.B., has favoured us with the following 



observations on the Game Reserves within the Protectorate of 

 which he is the Chief Commissioner. 



' Government House, Zomba : July 17, 1906. 



' (]). The Shirwa Beserve referred to by Mr. Hynde no longer 

 exists, so we can put that out of the question. 



' (2). The Elephant Marsh Reserve, as now kept up, contains 

 only one fifth of the area formerly demarcated by Sir Harry 

 Johnston, and this small portion is kept up entirely on account of 

 a herd of buffalo, about 200 in number, which, so long as I am in 

 this country, I will never consent to see slaughtered. 



' (8), The Angoniland Beserve is far away from any Euro- 

 pean industry whatever, and has been established on account 

 of its being the only part of the country where we have any 

 number of elephants' left. There are possibly 1,000 there, and so 

 long as I am in British Central Africa I shall endeavour to pro- 

 tect them. 



'There is no tsetse in the Elephant Marsh now reserved, 

 and there is no tsetse in or anywhere near the Angoniland 

 Reserve. So much for tsetse fly, sleeping sickness, cattle 

 disease, &c. 



' With regard to lions, I am totally at a loss to know how these 

 affect the question of game reserves. There are, of course, lions 

 in Africa, as there are tigers in India. If there were any means 

 of getting rid of them we should all rejoice. I know of no means 

 of exterminating them myself, nor, I suppose, does Mr. Hynde or 

 anybody else. His theory that the Elephant Marsh or any other 

 game reserve keeps up lions is totally incorrect. Anyone can 

 go and shoot lions in reserves or elsewhere if they choose, and the 

 small amount of game in the Elephant Marsh has absolutely no 

 effect whatever in keeping up lions in that district. All the Shire 

 River Valley is a great lion country and always will. bo. If there 

 were any tsetse at all of any description in any of the ground now 

 forming part of game reserves here, I should feel that there 

 might be some ground for opposition to game reserves, but there 

 are not. I have no objection to anyone shooting hippopotami n 

 they wish. They are not reserved in any way. 



' There; are no cotton plantations whatsoever on the eastern 



